Sinseh

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, often a herbalist who treats patients with remedies and acupuncture, especially in Malaysia and Singapore
2. A traditional Chinese herbalist or healer who diagnoses and treats illness using herbs, remedies and other methods from Chinese medicine
3. A teacher or master of Chinese medical practice, typically a respected herbalist who prescribes herbal medicines and treatments in Southeast Asian communities

Etymology: Sinseh comes from Hokkien, the Chinese language widely spoken by communities from southern Fujian, where 先生 (sin-seⁿ) literally means "first born" or "one who was born before," and by extension "teacher" or "master." That sense of seniority and learning is the key to its later meaning: the word was a respectful title for someone who had mastered a skill, and in Southeast Asia it came to be applied to those who practised traditional Chinese medicine. The word has a surprising relative in Japanese. The same characters 先生 are read "sensei" in Japanese, where they likewise mean "teacher" or "doctor," so the two terms are doublets, descended from the same Chinese source but adopted into different languages and pronounced differently. Japanese "sensei" is now familiar to English speakers from martial arts dojos and anime, while "sinseh" has stayed a regional term used mainly in Malaysia and Singapore.