# 실

| 실 | U+C2E4, &#49892; HANGUL SYLLABLE SIL |
| Composition: | ㅅ + ㅣ + ㄹ |
| ← 싣 [U+C2E3] | Hangul Syllables | 싥 → [U+C2E5] |
시식싞싟신싡싢 싣실싥싦싧싨싩 싪싫심십싮싯싰 싱싲싳싴싵싶싷 :
| 싀 ← | → 싸 |

## Jeju
### Etymology

See main entry at 씰 (ssil).

### Pronunciation

* (Morphophonemic) IPA: ⫽sil⫽
* (Jeju City) IPA: [ɕʰiɭ]
* Phonetic hangul: [실]

### Noun

실 (sil)
* Alternative form of 씰 (ssil, “thread, string”)

### References

* “실” in Jeju's culture and language, Digital museum.

## Korean
### Etymology 1

First attested in the Hunminjeong'eum haerye (訓民正音解例 / 훈민정음해례), 1446, as Middle Korean 실〯 (Yale: sǐl), from disyllabic Old Korean 糸利 (*SIli) attested as an element in a sixth-century personal name. Cognate with Jeju 씰 (ssil).
Possibly an ancient pre-Sino-Korean borrowing from Old Chinese 絲 (OC *slɯ, “silk”). If so, related to Ancient Greek Σήρ (Sḗr, “China”), English silk.

#### Pronunciation

* (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA: [ɕʰi(ː)ɭ]
* Phonetic hangul: [실(ː)]
** Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
* South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 실의 / 실에 / 실까지Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes low pitch, and heightens the pitch of two subsequent suffixed syllables.

#### Noun

실 • (sil)
* thread, yarn, string
    실을 감다 ― sir-eul gamda ― to wind thread
    실이 엉키다 ― sir-i eongkida ― For strings to be entangled
    실을 바늘에 꿰다 ― sir-eul baneur-e kkweda ― To thread a needle (with a thread).
    실 다섯 타래 ― sil daseot tarae ― five skeins of thread
    어제 실로 참 예쁜 양말을 꿰맸어요.Eoje sillo cham yeppeun yangmar-eul kkwemaesseoyo.Yesterday, I sewed together really pretty socks with string.
* (figurative) a narrow thing, a thin object

##### Alternative forms

* (Gyeongsang, Harbin) 씰 (ssil)

##### Derived terms

* 실 가는 데 바늘도 간다 (sil ganeun de baneuldo ganda, “Wherever a thread goes, a needle follows”)
* 실 엉킨 것은 풀어도 노 엉킨 것은 못 푼다 (sil eongkin geoseun pureodo no eongkin geoseun mot punda, “While small problems can easily be solved, bigger problems may be much more difficult”)
* 실 한 오리 안 걸치다 (sil han ori an geolchida, “to get completely naked”)
* 실고기 (silgogi, “pipefish”)
* 실눈 (sillun, “half-shut eye”)
* 실마리 (silmari, “beginning of a thread; clue”)
* 실바람 (silbaram, “wisp of wind, breeze”)
* 실반대 (silbandae, “coil of cotton”)
* 실밥 (silbap, “bits of thread”)
* 실뱀 (silbaem, “thin snake”)
* 실뱅어 (silbaeng'eo, “short icefish”)
* 실에 꿴 바늘 따라오듯 (sire kkwen baneul ttaraodeut, “Like following a needle on a thread”)
* 실이 와야 바늘이 가지 (siri waya baneuri gaji, “one must give in order to receive”)
* 실톱 (siltop, “fretsaw”)
* 치실 (chisil, “dental floss”)

### Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 失.

#### Pronunciation

* (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA: [ɕʰiɭ]
* Phonetic hangul: [실]

#### Noun

실 • (sil) (hanja 失)
* loss
    Antonym: 득(得) (deuk, “gain”)

##### Derived terms

* See the hanja entry at 失 for Sino-Korean compounds of 실 (失, sil).

### Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 室.

#### Pronunciation

* (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA: [ɕʰiɭ]
* Phonetic hangul: [실]

#### Noun

실 • (sil) (hanja 室)
* work division, department (generally higher than a 과 (gwa) or 부 (bu))

#### Counter

실 • (sil) (hanja 室)
* Used to count the number of rooms

### Etymology 4

Borrowed from English seal.

#### Pronunciation

* (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA: [ɕ͈iɭ]
* Phonetic hangul: [씰]

#### Noun

실 • (sil)
* paper seal

### Etymology 5

Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

#### Syllable

실 • (sil)
* 失: loss
    (eumhun reading: 잃을 실 (ireul sil)) (MC reading: 失 (MC syit))
* 室: room
    (eumhun reading: 집 실 (jip sil)) (MC reading: 室 (MC syit))
* 實: reality; truth
    (eumhun reading: 열매 실 (yeolmae sil)) (MC reading: 實 (MC zyit))

### References

* ↑ 이승재 [iseungjae] (2017) 木(목)簡(간)에 기록된 古(고)代(대)韓(한)國(국)語(어) [The Old Korean Language Inscribed on Wooden Tablets], Ilchogak, →ISBN, page 306
* ↑ Edwin G. Pulleyblank (2011) Middle Chinese: A Study in Historical Phonology, University of British Columbia Press, →ISBN, page 26
* 《우리말샘》

### Further reading

* Martin, Samuel E., Yang Ha Lee, Sung-Un Chang (1975) A Korean-English Dictionary, New Haven: Yale University Press, page 1055.

## Middle Korean
### Etymology

From Old Korean 糸利 (*SIli).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sǐl/

### Noun

실〯 (sǐl)
* thread, string

#### Descendants

* Korean: 실 (sil)