凹

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

凹 (Kangxi radical 17, 凵+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 尸尸山 (SSU), four-corner 7777₀, composition ⿶凵⿰㇅⿱一丨)

Derived characters

• 垇 㾎 兕 𠚆 𠱃 𪵲 𧰽 𧱃 𤉡 𩡿

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 135, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1810
• Dae Jaweon: page 301, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 308, character 3
• Unihan data for U+51F9

Chinese

Glyph origin

Pictogram (象形) .

Etymology

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

凹

1. concave; hollow; sunken; dented

   凹透鏡／凹透镜  ―  āotòujìng  ―  concave lens

   凹頭／凹头 [Cantonese]  ―  aau³ tau^4-2   ―  Au Tau (a place in Yuen Long District, Hong Kong)

2. to cave in; to be sunken; to dent; to be concave

   床中間凹下去。／床中间凹下去。  ―  Chuáng zhōngjiān āo xià qù.  ―  The bed sunk in the middle.

   中間凹咗落去 [Cantonese, trad.]
   中间凹咗落去 [Cantonese, simp.]

   zung¹ gaan¹ nap¹ zo² lok⁶ heoi³

   has a dent in the middle

3. indentation; depression

   山凹  ―  shān'āo  ―  mountain cave

   酒凹 [Cantonese]  ―  zau² nap¹   ―  dimple

   彼條路中央有一凹，你著愛較細膩咧。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   彼条路中央有一凹，你着爱较细腻咧。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Hit tiâu lō͘ tiong-ng ū chi̍t nah, lí tio̍h-ài khah sè-jī leh. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   There's a depression on that road, you have to be more careful.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “concave”): 凸 (tū, “convex”)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

凹

1. Alternative form of 窪／洼 (wā)

   賈平凹／贾平凹  ―  Jiǎ Píngwā  ―  Jia Pingwa (a Chinese writer)

Pronunciation 3

Definitions

凹

1. (Cantonese) Alternative form of 𠱃

Pronunciation 4

Definitions

凹

1. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) swollen bumps on the skin

   規面攏是予蠓仔咬的凹。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   规面拢是予蠓仔咬的凹。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Kui bīn lóng sī hō͘ báng-á kā ê nah. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   His/her entire face is covered with swollen mosquito bites.

2. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) Classifier for swollen bumps on the skin.

   面予蠓仔咬一凹。 [Hokkien, trad. and simp.]

   Bīn hō͘ báng-á kā chi̍t nah. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   His face was bit by the mosquito with one swollen bump.

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: よう (yō)^{←えふ (efu, historical)}
• Kan-on: おう (ō, Jōyō)^{←あふ (afu, historical)}
• Kun: くぼ (kubo, 凹); くぼい (kuboi, 凹い); くぼか (kuboka, 凹か); くぼむ (kubomu, 凹む); くぼめる (kubomeru, 凹める); くぼまる (kubomaru, 凹まる); くぼます (kubomasu, 凹ます); くぼやか (kuboyaka, 凹やか); なかくぼ (nakakubo); へこむ (hekomu, 凹む); ぼこ (boko, 凹)

Etymology 1

/apu/ → /afu/ → /au/ → /ɔː/ → /oː/

From Middle Chinese 凹 (MC 'eap). Compare modern Mandarin reading āo, Min Nan au.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) お​ー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Affix

凹(おう) • (ō) ^{←あふ (afu)?}

1. concave

Usage notes

The character 凹 with the reading ō is only used in compounds, and never in isolation.

Compounds

Etymology 2

Unknown. Sound similarities might suggest a connection to words related to darkness or deep interior, such as 雲 (kumo, “cloud”), 蜘蛛 (kumo, “spider”), 隈 (kuma, “a recess, a deep interior corner”), 黒 (kuro, “black”), 暗 (kura, “darkness”); more at 黒. Alternately, these broad similarities might be pure coincidence.

Alternative forms

• 窪(くぼ)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くぼ (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) く​ぼ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

凹(くぼ) • (kubo) 

1. an area with sides higher than the center: an indentation, a depression, a dip, a divot, a hole
2. (slang) female genitalia, the vagina

Synonyms

• (indentation): 窪(くぼ)み, 窪(くぼみ), 凹(くぼ)み, 凹(くぼみ) (kubomi)
• (female genitalia): 前門(ぜんもん) (zenmon), まんこ (manko)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Noun stem of verb 凹む (kubomu, “to become hollow, to become sunken, to become indented”), itself a compound of 凹 (kubo, “an indentation, a dip”) +‎ む (mu, “to become like something”, auxiliary verb attaching to nouns or adjective stems, cognate with びる (biru) biru).

Alternative forms

• 窪(くぼ)み, 窪(くぼみ), 凹(くぼ)み

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くぼみ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

凹(くぼみ) • (kubomi) 

1. a pit, a hollow, a cavity, a depression, a dent

Usage notes

The 凹(くぼ)み or 窪(くぼ)み spelling with the okurigana み is more common when used as a standalone term. The spelling without the okurigana is more common in compounds.

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Compound of 中 (naka, “inside, inner”) +‎ 窪 (kubo, “pit, indentation”).

Alternative forms

• 中(なか)窪(くぼ)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) なかくぼ (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) なか​くぼ (Nakadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

凹(なかくぼ) • (nakakubo) 

1. a sunken center
2. a place or object with a sunken center

Usage notes

The 中(なか)窪(くぼ) spelling is more common.

Synonyms

• 中(なか)低(びく) (nakabiku)

Etymology 5

Noun stem of verb 凹む (hekomu, “to become hollow, to become sunken, to become indented”), itself an abbreviated compound of 減り (heri, noun stem of verb 減る (heru, “to reduce, to decrease, to diminish”)) +‎ 込む (komu, “to go inwardly”).

Alternative forms

• 凹(へこ)み (hekomi)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) へこみ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

凹(へこみ) • (hekomi) 

1. a pit, a hollow, a cavity, a depression, a dent
2. a mistake, and error
3. a moment of weakness or confusion, being at a loss

Usage notes

The 凹(へこ)み (hekomi) spelling is more common.

Synonyms

• (hollow): 窪(くぼ)み (kubomi), 窪(くぼみ) (kubomi), 凹(くぼ)み (kubomi), 凹(くぼみ) (kubomi) (also see above)
• (mistake): 失(しっ)策(さく) (shissaku)
• (mistake): 失(しっ)敗(ぱい) (shippai)
• (at a loss): 困(こん)惑(わく) (konwaku)

Etymology 6

Uncertain. Possibly onomatopoeic from the sound of a wheel bouncing in a rut or pothole, or from the sound of something hollow when tapped. Compare adverb ぼこぼこ (bokoboko, “full of holes; hollowly”).

Alternately, may be compound of ぼ (bo, “empty?”, uncertain; possibly related to verb 掘る (horu, “to dig, to dig out”)) +‎ こ (ko, “place”, suffixing element seen in other words such as そこ (soko, “there”) or 端っこ (hashikko, “edge, end, tip”)). Compare 凸 (deko, “protrusion”), likely a compound of 出 (de, “coming out”) + こ (ko, “place”, suffixing element).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぼ​こ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

凹(ぼこ) • (boko) 

1. an indentation, a dip or divot, a hollow, a dent in a surface

Derived terms

References

Korean

Hanja

凹 (eumhun 오목할 요 (omokhal yo))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

凹: Hán Nôm readings: ao

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.