Century

Japanese: 世紀 - せいき

〘noun〙① A period. An era. ※Funeral Procession (1906)〈Ishikawa Takuboku〉 "Spring and autumn come and go, and the century is renewed." ② The name of a period that is counted in 100-year increments from the year of Christ's birth. Used to refer to a period. ※Social Equality Theory (1881)〈Matsushima Tsuyoshi〉Explanation "When a century is written in a book, a century is a name for a generation." ③ (In the form of "century") Used to mean something that occurs once in a century. "Great business of the century" ※Perfect game (1961)〈Sano Hiroshi〉1 "The sports newspapers were writing it as 'The three games of the century.'" [Glossary] Originally, there were various words such as "hundred years" and "world period" to translate the English word "century." An early example of "world period" can be seen in Suzuki Yuichi's translation of "Manpo Seiri" ( 1876 ), but it is thought to be a misprint of "world period." Although it does appear in the legend for "Social Equality" in example ②, it does not appear in the text itself, and it was not until around 1882 that it began to be used in newspaper and magazine articles, book titles, dictionary translations, etc.

Source: The Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary About the Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary Information

Japanese:

〘名〙① 年代。時代。※葬列（1906）〈石川啄木〉「春秋いく度か去来して世紀また新たなるの日」② およそキリスト誕生の年から一〇〇年を一期として、以後一〇〇年ずつ区切って数える時代区画の称。年代の呼称として用いられる。※社会平権論（1881）〈松島剛訳〉凡例「書中幾世紀と記す者は世代を著す名称にして一百年を一世紀と称す」③ (「世紀の」の形で) 一世紀に一度しかないというような意味で用いる。「世紀の大事業」※完全試合（1961）〈佐野洋〉一「スポーツ新聞は、『世紀の三連戦』と書きたてていた」[語誌]英語 century の訳語としては、当初「百年」「世期」などさまざまな語があり、「世紀」の早い例は、「万法精理」（一八七六）の鈴木唯一訳述の部分に一例見えるが、「世期」の誤表記とも考えられる。②の挙例の「社会平権論」の凡例にも見えるが、本文中には現われず、ようやく明治一五年（一八八二）ごろから、新聞・雑誌の記事、書名、辞書の訳語などに使われるようになった。

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