A semiconductor nanoparticle and semiconductor nanorod that have optical characteristics (luminescence intensity and emission lifetime) superior to those of conventional core/shell nanosized semiconductors. There are provided a triple-layer semiconductor nanoparticle, and triple-layer semiconductor nanorod, having an average particle diameter of 2 to 50 nm and comprising a core layer, an interlayer and a shell layer, wherein the layers are composed of different crystals, and wherein the crystal constructing the shell layer exhibits a band gap greater than that of the crystal constructing the core layer, and wherein the crystal constructing the interlayer has a lattice constant assuming a value between those of the crystal constructing the core layer and the crystal constructing the shell layer.