圣尼古拉斯

聖尼古拉斯

ShèngNígǔlāsī

popculture #34,242

Meanings

1 Saint Nicholas (4th-century bishop of Myra, historical basis for Santa Claus)
2 St. Nicholas (place name, e.g. cities/parishes in Europe)

Characters

Buddhist nun (used phonetically)

ancient (used phonetically)

to pull (used phonetically)

this (classical); used phonetically

Examples

圣尼古拉斯是圣诞老人的原型。

Shèng Nígǔlāsī shì Shèngdàn lǎorén de yuánxíng.

Saint Nicholas is the prototype of Santa Claus.

孩子们听着圣尼古拉斯的故事。

Háizimen tīng zhe Shèng Nígǔlāsī de gùshi.

The children are listening to the story of Saint Nicholas.

Tips

culture

Saint Nicholas of Myra (c. 270-343 CE) was a Greek bishop in modern-day Turkey, famous for secret gift-giving — the legend that grew into 圣诞老人 (Shèngdàn lǎorén, Santa Claus) via Dutch 'Sinterklaas' and English 'Santa Claus'. In Chinese, 圣 (saint/holy) prefixes the transliterated name, just like 圣保罗 (Saint Paul), 圣彼得 (Saint Peter).

memory

圣 (saint) + 尼古拉斯 (Ní-gǔ-lā-sī ≈ Nicholas). The 圣 prefix is the Chinese pattern for canonized Christian saints and place names derived from them.

Stroke Order

圣 shèng

尼 ní

古 gǔ

拉 lā

斯 sī