姑

Translingual

Han character

姑 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 女十口 (VJR), four-corner 4446₀, composition ⿰女古)

Derived characters

• 㑬, 𠵎, 㣨, 𢯐, 㴌, 𧍏, 𦁿, 𪂯, 𫱬, 𪦭, 菇, 𨐞

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 258, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6174
• Dae Jaweon: page 524, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1035, character 4
• Unihan data for U+59D1

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 姑
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaː) : semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ) – a type of woman (aunt, mother-in-law).

Pronunciation

Definitions

姑

1. father's sister

   • 姪其從姑 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     侄其从姑 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Zhí qí cóng gū

     The (paternal) nephew follows his (paternal) aunt

2. husband's sister

   • 新婦初來時，小姑始扶床；今日被驅遣，小姑如我長。 [MSC, trad.]
     新妇初来时，小姑始扶床；今日被驱遣，小姑如我长。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 〈孔雀東南飛〉 "The Peacock Flies Southeast" in 《樂府詩集》 "Collected songs of the Music Bureau style" by 郭茂倩 Guo Maoqian.

     Xīnfù chūlái shí, xiǎogū shǐ fú chuáng; jīnrì bèi qūqiǎn, xiǎogū rú wǒ cháng.

     When I was a newcome bride, my husband's little sister just began to lean on the bed. Today when I'm banished, my husband's little sister is as tall as I.

3. husband's mother

   • 婦事舅姑，如事父母。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     妇事舅姑，如事父母。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Fù shì jiùgū, rú shì fùmǔ.

     A wife shall serve her father-in-law and mother-in-law, just as she served her father and mother.

4. woman
5. nun
6. mole cricket
7. tentatively
8. a surname

Synonyms

Compounds

References

• “姑”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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

Readings

• Go-on: く (ku)
• Kan-on: こ (ko)
• Kun: しゅうとめ (shūtome, 姑); しゅうと (shūto, 姑); しばらく (shibaraku, 姑く); おば (oba)

Compounds

Etymology 1

/sihi₁to₂me₁/: → → . Compound of 舅 (shihito, “in law”) and 女 (me, “woman”). See next entry.

Noun

姑(しひとめ) • (shihitome) 

1. a mother-in-law

Etymology 2

From shihitome: → → → → → → .

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しゅうとめ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

姑(しゅうとめ) • (shūtome) ^{←しうとめ (siutome)?}

1. a mother-in-law

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しゅうと (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

姑(しゅうと) • (shūto) ^{←しうと (siuto)?}

1. a mother-in-law

Derived terms

References

Korean

Hanja

姑 (eumhun 시어미 고 (sieomi go))

1. Hanja form^? of 고 (“mother-in-law”).

Vietnamese

Han character

姑: Hán Việt readings: cô
姑: Nôm readings: cô, co, go, o, cua

1. chữ Hán form of cô (“paternal aunt, young lady”).
2. Nôm form of o (“dialectal form of cô”).

References