Standard Lemma guide

Confucianism

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 N F Y UW1 SH AH0 N IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The philosophy and teaching of Confucius, which emphasizes self-cultivation, collective harmony, righteousness and the family structure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The school of thought and philosophy centered on Confucian principles, originating in China, including later teachings of scholars such as Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A saying, epithet or idea attributed to Confucius.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the teachings of Confucius emphasizing love for humanity; high value given to learning and to devotion to family (including ancestors); peace; justice; influenced the traditional culture of China

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)uŋ Mandarin 孔 (kǒng) Mandarin 夫 Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsəʔ Mandarin 子 Mandarin 夫子 (fūzǐ) Mandarin 孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ) Latin -ius New Latin Cōnfuciuslbor. English Confucius Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Latin -nus Latin -ānus Latin -iānusbor. English -ian English Confucian Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English Confucianism From Confucian + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كُونْفُوشِيَّة (kūnfūšiyya) — philosophy
  • Arabic: كُونْفُشْيُوسِيَة (kūnfušyūsiya) — philosophy
  • Catalan: confucianisme — philosophy
  • Chinese Cantonese: 儒教 (jyu4 gaau3) — philosophy
  • Chinese Cantonese: 儒家思想 (jyu4 gaa1 si1 soeng2) — philosophy
  • Chinese Cantonese: 孔教 — philosophy
  • Chinese Cantonese: 儒學 /儒学 (jyu4 hok6) — philosophy
  • Hakka Chinese: 儒教 (yì-kau) — philosophy
  • Hakka Chinese: 儒家思想 (yì-kâ sṳ̂-sióng) — philosophy
  • Chinese: 儒教 (Jû-kàu, Lû-kàu) — philosophy
  • Chinese: 儒家思想 (Jû-ka su-sióng, Lû-ka su-sióng) — philosophy
  • Chinese: 儒學 /儒学 (Jû-ha̍k, Lû-ha̍k) — philosophy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 儒教 (rújiào) — philosophy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 儒家思想 (rújiā sīxiǎng) — philosophy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 孔教 (kǒngjiào) — philosophy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 儒學 /儒学 (rúxué) — philosophy
  • Danish: konfucianisme — philosophy
  • Dutch: confucianisme — philosophy
  • Finnish: kungfutselaisuus — philosophy
  • Finnish: konfutselaisuus — philosophy
  • French: confucianisme — philosophy
  • German: Konfuzianismus — philosophy
  • Greek: κομφουκιανισμός (komfoukianismós) — philosophy
  • Hungarian: konfucianizmus — philosophy
  • Icelandic: konfúsíusismi — philosophy
  • Japanese: 儒教 (jukyō) — philosophy
  • Japanese: 儒学 (jugaku) — philosophy
  • Japanese: 孔教 (kōkyō) — philosophy
  • Kazakh: конфуциандық (konfusiandyq) — philosophy
  • Kazakh: конфуцианшылдық (konfusianşyldyq) — philosophy
  • Korean: 유교 (yugyo) — philosophy
  • Korean: 유학 (yuhak) — philosophy
  • Korean: 공교 (gonggyo) — philosophy
  • Latvian: konfūcisms — philosophy
  • Polish: konfucjanizm — philosophy
  • Portuguese: confucionismo — philosophy
  • Portuguese: confucianismo — philosophy
  • Russian: конфуциа́нство (konfuciánstvo) — philosophy
  • Serbo-Croatian: konfucijanizam — philosophy
  • Spanish: confucianismo — philosophy
  • Swedish: konfucianism — philosophy
  • Thai: ลัทธิขงจื๊อ (lát-tí kŏng-jéu) — philosophy
  • Turkish: Konfüçyüsçülük — philosophy
  • Urdu: کنفیوشس مت (kanfuśas mat) — philosophy
  • Vietnamese: Nho giáo — philosophy
  • Vietnamese: Nho học — philosophy
  • Vietnamese: Khổng giáo — philosophy
  • Vietnamese: đạo Nho — philosophy
  • Vietnamese: đạo Khổng — philosophy
  • Vietnamese: đạo Thánh hiền — philosophy
Real reading context

Confucianism in complete knowledge articles