Taxonomy of meanings for 省:　　

  • 省 xǐng (OC: seŋʔ MC: siɛŋ) 息井切 上 廣韻：【察也審也息井切六 】
    • INVESTIGATE
      • nabactLIJI, zhongyong 15: trial
      • vt(oN)ominspect, investigate, examine (a contextually determinate N)
      • vt[oN{REFLEX}]reflexiveinvestigate oneself
      • vtoNto inspect (something) carefuly, to examine (something) in details
      • vtoNfigurativeexamine (oneself in three respects etc)
      • vt(oN)figurativeinvestigate oneself
      • vtoNpsychinvestigate (oneself), examine (oneself) morally
      • vtoNreflexive.內investigate oneself
      • vt[oN]investigate thingsCH
  • 省 shěng (OC: sraaŋʔ MC: ʃɯiaŋ) 所景切 上 廣韻：【省署漢書曰舊名禁中避元后諱改爲省中又姓左傳宋大夫省臧所景切又息井切九 】
    • FEW
      • vibe sparse, be economical; be no more than necessary in number
      • vtoNcausativecause to become few: reduce
      • vtoNmiddle voicebe used sparinglyCH
      • causative>REDUCE
          • reduced in size>SLIM
          • grammaticalised>DON'T
              • nominalised>MISTAKE
                • action>AVOID
                    • so as to remove from one's presence>DISCARD
                      • forbidden part of>PALACE
                          • public, ministry>OFFICE
                              • region administered by>REGION
                                • nprovince (Yuan dynasty usage)
                          • not excessive in use of one's property>FRUGAL
                            • viactZUO: be sparing in the use of resources, save; HF 6.4.14: (of laws) be sparse, be few in number
                            • vichangebecome more economical
                            • vimathematical termCHEMLA 2003:
                            • VP(adN.)=Nprbe sparing with, be frugal with
                            • vtoNbe sparing in the use of
                            • vtoNpassivecause to be sparse and economical
                    • grammaticalised>PAST
                      • SURNAMES
                        • =眚DISASTER
                        • 省 ｘｉａｎ３《集韻》息淺切，上獼心。

                          Additional information about 省

                          說文解字:

                            Criteria
                          • INVESTIGATE

                            1. The most general words for investigating something are chá 察 "sort out clearly" and shen 審 "investigate carefully".

                            2. Kǎo 考 and jī 稽 refer to an objective investigation into something on the basis of the best available evidence.

                            3. Xǐng 省 typically refers to investigation by introspection.

                            4. Jiū 究 and qióng 窮 emphasise the thoroughness and exhaustiveness of an investigation.

                            5. Xiáng 詳, xī 悉, and dì 諦 focus on the detailed nature of an investigation without insisting on its exhaustiveness.

                            6. Yuán 原 refers to a principled investigation into all aspects of a topic, getting to the bottom of a matter.

                            NB: pàn 判涄 ome to a result in an investigation � does not refer to the investigation itself but only the final act of judgment on the result; d“ng 定洖 etermine (the truth of a matter) is a resultative verb. Duàn 斷烒 each a conclusion on an investigation � is close to pàn 判.

                          • FRUGAL

                            1. The current general word for the virtue of parsimony is jiǎn 儉 (ant. shē 奢 "extravagant in the use of resources").

                            2. Jié 節 (ant. chǐ 侈 "lavish use of resources") refers to the virtue of moderation in the use of things as it applies to specified areas and does not function an abstract philosophical concept of parsimony.

                            3. The negative quality of stinginess is lìn 吝 (ant. POST-BUDDHIST kāng kǎi 慷慨 "generous (with friends)", and in pre-Buddhist times the less exact huì 惠 "generous (to inferiors)").

                            4. The neutral terms for thrift are shěng 省 (ant. fèi 費 "spend freely"), jiǎn 簡, and yuē 約.

                            5. Xí 惜 (ant. tài 泰 / 汰 "use up resources thoughtlessly") refers to the reluctance to let go of something or to use it up.

                          • WASTE

                            1. The current general word for habitual wastefulness is hào 耗 (ant. liǎn 斂 "economical, parsimonious").

                            2. Fèi 費 (ant. jié 節 "be economical in the use of resources") refers specifically to single acts of wastefulness.

                            3. Fèi 廢 (ant. cún 存 "keep and avoid spending") refers to an inclination to use large sums without necessarily indicating that such large expenditure is wasteful.

                            4. Kuàng 曠 "waste" (ant. xī 惜 "make sparing use of") is limited to the combination kuàng rì 曠日 "waste time" (ant. shěng shí 省時 "save time" seems late).

                            Word relations
                          • Ant: (FRUGAL)費/WASTE Fèi 費 (ant. jié 節 "be economical in the use of resources") refers specifically to single acts of wastefulness.
                          • Contrast: (INVESTIGATE)察/INVESTIGATE The most general words for investigating something are chá 察 "sort out clearly" and shen 審 "investigate carefully".
                          • Contrast: (FRUGAL)薄/SLIGHTLY Báo 薄 (ant. hòu 厚 "intensely") focusses on something happening to a lesser degree than a conventional standard would indicate or prescribe.
                          • Synon: (FEW)寡/FEW Guǎ 寡 (ant. zhòng 眾 "numerous" and occasionally also duō 多 "large in quantity") typically refers specifically humans not being numerous as opposed to larger groups of humans, but the word comes to refer also to any quantity being relatively large (五穀多寡 "the relative abundance of grain") and I have not found a systematic difference in nuance with shǎo 少 when the word is so used, except for the generally subjective intuition that guǎ 寡 being the dominant word in early times, perhaps retained a somewhat more dignified stylistic value throughout.