Character 世

It names a social world, a stretch of time, or both.

世 covers generation, era, lifetime, society, and world. Chinese hanzi, Japanese kanji, and Korean hanja share overlapping uses, but compounds do not translate one-to-one.

The earliest documented form appears on Western Zhou bronzes. Its origin is disputed: one account links it to leaf graph 枼; the early Chinese dictionary Shuowen Jiezi explains it as three tens (thirty years, a traditional generation). Its senses broadened from generation to era, lifetime, society, and world. Japanese kana せ and セ descend from cursive forms of 世.