單

Translingual

Han character

單 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 口口田十 (RRWJ), four-corner 6650₆, composition ⿱吅⿻日十 or ⿱吅⿻甲一)

Derived characters

• 僤, 嘽, 墠, 嬋, 㠆, 幝, 彈, 憚, 撣, 暺, 樿, 殫, 潬, 燀, 㺗, 磾, 禪, 繟, 䐷, 蟬, 襌, 觶, 貚, 䠤, 軃, 䡲, 驒, 鱓, 䵐, 嚲, 䯬, 奲, 戰, 鄲, 鷤, 囅, 匰, 癉, 㲷, 闡, 簞, 蕇, 鼉

Descendants

• 单, 単

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 200, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3993
• Dae Jaweon: page 422, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 654, character 6
• Unihan data for U+55AE

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 單
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) – a net to catch animals. The two boxes at the top are weights, the middle section is the net, the bottom is the rope.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(d/t)a(n/j) (“single; one; whole; only”). Cognate with 但 (OC *daːn, *daːnʔ, *daːns, “only; but”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

單

1. single; individual; solitary
2. thin; narrow; faint
3. simple; uncomplicated
4. (of clothes) unlined
5. (mathematics) Short for 單數／单数 (dānshù, “odd”).
6. (linguistics) Short for 單數／单数 (dānshù, “singular”).
7. cover; bed sheet
8. list; register; catalogue
9. only; merely; simply

   • 別的國度裏怎樣，我不知道。單知道諾威人Hamsun有一本小說叫《飢餓》，粗野的口吻是很多的，但我並不見這一類話。 [MSC, trad.]
     别的国度里怎样，我不知道。单知道诺威人Hamsun有一本小说叫《饥饿》，粗野的口吻是很多的，但我并不见这一类话。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1925, 魯迅, 論「他媽的！」

     Bié de guódù lǐ zěnyàng, wǒ bù zhīdào. Dān zhīdào Nuòwēirén Hamsun yǒu yī běn xiǎoshuō jiào “Jī'è”, cūyě de kǒuwěn shì hěnduō de, dàn wǒ bìngbù jiàn zhè yī lèi huà.

     I don't know what it's like in other countries. I only know that a Norwegian Hamsun has a novel called Hunger vulgar speech is plenty, but I have by no means seen this kind of thing .

10. and; plus
11. bill (Classifier: 張／张 c)

    埋單／埋单 [Cantonese]  ―  maai⁴ daan¹   ―  to pay a bill

12. Classifier for cases, deals and businesses.
13. (Cantonese, derogatory) Classifier for people.
    • 1952, 梁琛, directed by 梁琛, 十月芥菜 [A Ready Lover]‎, spoken by 張永超 (鄺山笑):

      哦，嗰單西裝友呀？ [Cantonese, trad.]
      哦，嗰单西装友呀？ [Cantonese, simp.]

      o⁶, go² daan¹ sai¹ zong¹ jau^5-2 aa⁴?

      Oh, that bloke in a suit?

14. a surname

Compounds

Synonyms

• (ticket): 票 (piào), 券 (quàn); (Cantonese) 飛／飞 (fēi)

See also

• (only): 只 (zhǐ)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Definitions

單

1. ^† to surround
2. Used in 單于 (chányú).
3. Used in 單閼／单阏.

Compounds

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Definitions

單

1. (～縣) Shan County (a county of Shandong)
2. a surname

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Definitions

單

1. Alternative form of 嘽／啴
2. Alternative form of 繟／𦈎

Etymology 5

Etymology 6

Etymology 7

Pronunciation

Definitions

單

1. Alternative form of 戰／战 (zhàn)
2. Used in 單至／单至.

Etymology 8

Pronunciation

Definitions

單

1. (rare) a surname

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 単)

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

Readings

• Go-on: たん (tan); ぜん (zen)
• Kan-on: たん (tan); せん (sen)
• Kun: ひとえ (hitoe, 單)^{←ひとへ (fitofe, 單, historical)}

Korean

Etymology 1

Hanja

單 (eumhun 홀 단 (hol dan))

1. Hanja form^? of 단 (“single; individual; solitary”).

Compounds

• 단어 (單語, daneo, “word”)
• 단순 (單純, dansun, “simple”)

Etymology 2

Hanja

單 (eumhun 오랑캐 이름 선 (orangkae ireum seon))

1. Hanja form^? of 선 (“a barbarian”).

Compounds

• 선우 (單于, seonu, “Chanyu”)

Vietnamese

Han character

單: Hán Nôm readings: đơn, đan, thiền, truyên

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

References

• Nom Foundation