一切經音義 65.168

65.168

大寺（梵言鼻詩羅此云遊謂僧遊履處也舊來以寺代之寺司也公舍也有法度也釋名云寺嗣也治事者相嗣續於其內也字從寸㞢聲㞢古之字也）。

Monastery (dasi 大寺; in Sanskrit vihāra [鼻詩羅], which translates here as 'roaming'—the place where monks walk and dwell. From of old it was substituted with the word 'si' (寺). A si is an official bureau, a public residence having laws and regulations. The Shiming says: 'Si means to succeed (si 嗣); administrators succeed one another within it.' The character is derived from cun (寸) with zhi (㞢) as phonetic; 㞢 is an ancient form of zhi (之)).