天主

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	to own; to host; master to own; to host; master; lord; primary
simp. and trad. (天主)		天	主

Etymology

First attested in True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (《天主實錄》), completed by Italian Jesuit priest and missionary Michele Ruggieri in 1584 (Wang, 2012), as a semantic readaptation of Chinese 天主 (Tiānzhǔ, “heavenly emperor; heavenly God”).

Note 天主 is earliest attested in Japanese no later than 1581. The coinage of 天主 (Tiānzhǔ, “God”) in Chinese and Japanese around the same time may or may not be coincidental.

Proper noun

(deprecated template usage) 天主

1. (chiefly Catholicism) the Lord of Heaven; God

   • 在起初天主創造了天地。 [MSC, trad.]
     在起初天主创造了天地。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: (deprecated template usage) 思高聖經 (Studium Biblicum Version), 創世紀 (Genesis) 1:1

     Zài qǐchū Tiānzhǔ chuàngzào le tiāndì. [Pinyin]

     In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

Synonyms

Terms for God in different branches of Christianity

Branch	Words edit
Protestant	上帝, 神, 真神
Roman Catholic	天主, 僚氏 Hokkien, historical
Eastern Orthodox	上帝

Descendants

• → Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ
  ᡝᠵᡝᠨ (abkai ejen) (calque)

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
天	主
てん Grade: 1	しゅ Grade: 3
on'yomi

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese 天主 (then tsyu^X)

Proper noun

天(てん)主(しゅ) • (Tenshu) 

1. (Christianity) the Lord of Heaven

Descendants

• Korean: 천주 (Cheonju)
• Vietnamese: Thiên Chúa

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Korean

Hanja in this term
天	主

Proper noun

天主 • (Cheonju) (hangeul 천주)

1. hanja form^? of 천주 (“the Lord of Heaven; God”)

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Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
天	主

Proper noun

天主

1. chữ Hán form of Thiên Chúa (“God, the Lord of Heaven”).