sifu

English

Alternative forms

• shifu (from Mandarin), see (deprecated template usage) 師傅／师傅 (simpl.) / (deprecated template usage) 师傅 (shīfu)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Cantonese (deprecated template usage) 師傅／师傅 (si¹ fu^6-2) (simpl.) / (deprecated template usage) 师傅 (si¹ fu^6-2) (trad.) and (deprecated template usage) 師父／师父 (si¹ fu^6-2) (simpl.) / (deprecated template usage) 师父 (si¹ fu^6-2) (trad.), (both pronounced si1 fu6), the first meaning master, the second meaning "my master", both also conveying the sense of teacher.

Noun

sifu (plural sifu or sifus)

1. A pair of Cantonese terms, homophones, used in English to mean "master" or "teacher" in the context of martial arts, especially kung fu and tai chi, also used to denote "spiritual father" in esoteric uses.

Translations

martial arts instructor

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 師傅／师傅 (si¹ fu^6-2), 师傅 (si¹ fu⁶, si¹ fu²)

  Mandarin: 師傅／师傅, 师傅 (zh) (shīfu)

  Min Nan: 師傅／师傅 (zh-min-nan), 师傅 (sai-hū)

• Finnish: mestari (fi)
• French: sifu m or f, shifu m or f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Shifu m or f
• Japanese: 先生 (ja) (せんせい, sensei)
• Korean: 사부 (ko) (sabu), 선생님 (ko) (seonsaengnim)
• Persian: سی‌فو (si-fu)
• Russian: ши́фу m or f (šífu), си́фу m or f (sífu), ма́стер (ru) m (máster)

Synonyms

• (martial arts): sensei
• (esoteric): guru

Anagrams

• Sufi