十二支

Chinese

		twelve; 12	(a measure word); to support; to sustain (a measure word); to support; to sustain; to erect; to raise; branch; division; to draw money
simp. and trad. (十二支)		十二	支

十二支

the 12 "earthly branches" 子 (zǐ), 丑 (chǒu), 寅 (yín), 卯 (mǎo), 辰 (chén), 巳 (sì), 午 (wǔ), 未 (wèi), 申 (shēn), 酉 (yǒu), 戌 (xū), 亥 (hài) (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)
a gambling game, commonly referred to as "chap ji kee" in English sources, which used the 12 cards of the 四色牌 (four colour cards) deck, each of which has a different character drawn from those used in Chinese chess (象棋 (xiàngqí))

Earth branches and animals

Stone carving of Chinese zodiac

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

十二支

Wikipedia ^ja

十(じゅう)二(に)支(し) • (jūnishi) ^{←じふにし (zifunisi)^?}

the twelve earthly branches (支) of the Chinese zodiac, which are represented each by an animal
Synonym: 地支 (chishi)

the twelve earthly branches

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Hanja in this term
十	二	支

十二支 • (sibiji) (hangeul 십이지)