Custom Head - Master Insect Assassin 3D print model

Shifu (simplified Chinese: 师傅 or 师父; traditional Chinese: 師傅 or 師父; pinyin: shīfù) in Mandarin, or sifu in Cantonese, is a title for, and the role of, a skillful person or a master. The character 師/师 means skilled person or teacher, while 傅 means tutor and 父 means father. 傅 and 父 are pronounced with the same tones in both Cantonese (fu6) and Mandarin (fù).

Though pronounced identically and bearing similar meanings, the two terms are distinct, and their usage is different. The former term, 師傅/师傅, bears only the meaning of master, and is used to express the speaker's general respect for the addressee's skills and experience; it is, for instance, the term frequently used for cab drivers or other skilled laborers—thus, a customer may use this term to address an automotive mechanic.

The latter term, 師父/师父, bears the dual meaning of master and father, and thus connotes lineage in a teacher–student relationship. A tradesperson, for example, would address only their own teacher or master in this way; in the previous example, the mechanic's apprentice would address their master using this term, but a customer would not address that person in that way. By contrast, a senior religious person—and, by extension, experts in Chinese martial arts—can be addressed either as master-father (師父/师父) or simply as master (師傅/师傅) in all contexts.