安

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

安 (Kangxi radical 40, 宀+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 十女 (JV), four-corner 3040₄, composition ⿱宀女)

Derived characters

• 侒, 咹, 垵, 姲, 峖, 𪫲, 按, 洝, 㫨, 胺, 桉, 𤇼, 𤥃, 𥅥, 𥞬, 𫃀, 𥿽, 𬢨, 銨 (铵), 鞍, 𫗒, 𩣑 (䯃), 鮟 (𩽾), 𠡓, 䢿, 頞, 𮪂, 鴳 (𫛩), 晏, 氨, 𡠺, 荌, 𡋅, 案, 䀂, 䅁, 㝧, 鞌, 𰀘

Descendants

• あ (Hiragana character derived from man'yōgana)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 282, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7072
• Dae Jaweon: page 552, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 913, character 9
• Unihan data for U+5B89

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 安 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 安 (Cantonese)
• 安 (Gan)

Glyph origin

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

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 宀 (“house”) + 女 (“a woman or a kneeling person”) – person in a kneeling position sitting on the heels at home.

Etymology

calm; peaceful

A parallel stem is 宴 (OC *qeːns, “to be at ease; to rest”) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007).

Cognate with 按 (OC *qaːns, “to push down with hand”), an exoactive derivative, literally “to cause to be settled; calmed” (ibid.).

Starostin reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔɨāɫ (“rest”), comparing it to Mizo âwl (“to rest”) (and also noting Dhimal (el-ka, “good”)). STEDT, however, traces the Mizo word to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-grwal ~ *ʔwal (“finish, loose, relax”) and did not list 安 (OC *qaːn) among its comparanda: namely 完 (OC *ɦŋoːn), 緩 (OC *ɢʷaːnʔ), 諼 (OC *qʰʷan, *qʰʷanʔ), 援 (OC *ɢʷans, *ɢʷan).

where; how

Cognate with 惡 (OC *qaː, “how”) and 焉 (OC *qran, *qan, “where; how”), the latter of which is probably a variant of 安 (OC *qaːn).

Pronunciation

Definitions

安

1. calm; peaceful; tranquil; quiet

   安寧／安宁  ―  ānníng  ―  peaceful; tranquil

   安睡  ―  ānshuì  ―  to sleep peacefully

   不安  ―  bù'ān  ―  uneasy; disturbed

2. comfortable; at ease

   安逸  ―  ānyì  ―  easy and comfortable

   • 君子食無求飽，居無求安。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     君子食无求饱，居无求安。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Jūnzǐ shí wú qiú bǎo, jū wú qiú ān.

     He who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite, nor in his dwelling place does he seek the appliances of ease.

3. safe; secure

   安然無恙／安然无恙  ―  ānránwúyàng  ―  safe and sound

   轉危為安／转危为安  ―  zhuǎnwēiwéi'ān  ―  avert a danger

   • 是故君子安而不忘危，存而不忘亡，治而不忘亂；是以身安而國家可保也。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     是故君子安而不忘危，存而不忘亡，治而不忘乱；是以身安而国家可保也。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

     Shìgù jūnzǐ ān ér bù wàng wēi, cún ér bù wàng wáng, zhì ér bù wàng luàn; shìyǐ shēn ān ér guójiā kě bǎo yě.

     Therefore the superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come; when in a state of security, he does not forget the possibility of ruin; and when all is in a state of order, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is kept safe, and his states and all their clans can be preserved.

4. to calm; to pacify

   安神  ―  ānshén  ―  to calm the nerves

   除暴安良  ―  chúbào'ānliáng  ―  to get rid of bullies and bring peace to good people

   天安門／天安门  ―  Tiān'ānmén  ―  Tiananmen, Beijing; literally "the gate of Heaven's peacemaking"

5. to feel satisfied with

   安於現狀／安于现状  ―  ānyúxiànzhuàng  ―  to be content with the status quo (and unwilling to progress)

   安貧樂道／安贫乐道  ―  ānpínyuèdào  ―  to be happy to live a simple and virtuous life

6. to find a place for; to plant

   安插  ―  ānchā  ―  to place (somebody) in a certain position

   安家落戶／安家落户  ―  ānjiāluòhù  ―  to settle in a new place

7. to fit; to install

   安電燈／安电灯  ―  ān diàndēng  ―  to install electric lighting

8. to cherish; to harbour
9. to confer (a title); to bestow; to put (the blame on someone)

   隨便給他安個罪名 [MSC, trad.]
   随便给他安个罪名 [MSC, simp.]

   suíbiàn gěi tā ān ge zuìmíng

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

10. (Cantonese) ounce

    五安奶 [Cantonese]  ―  ng⁵ on¹ naai⁵   ―  five ounces of milk

11. (literary) where

    • 沛公安在？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

      From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

      Pèigōng ān zài?

      Where is Pei Gong (Liu Bang)?

12. (literary) how; why

    • 暴而不戢，安能保大？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

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

      Bào ér bù jí, ān néng bǎo dà?

      Cruel and not calling in the weapons of war, how can I preserve our greatness?

    • 雄兔腳撲朔，雌兔眼迷離。兩兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      雄兔脚扑朔，雌兔眼迷离。两兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: 《木蘭詩》; translation by Jack Yuan

      Xióng tù jiǎo pūshuò, cí tù yǎn mílí. Liǎng tù bàng dì zǒu, ān néng biàn wǒ shì xióng cí?

      The buck bounds here and there, whilst the doe has narrow eyes. But when the two rabbits run side by side, how can you tell the female from the male?

13. (physics) Short for 安培 (ānpéi, “ampere”).
14. Short for 安非他命 (ānfēitāmìng, “amphetamine”).

    吸安  ―  xī'ān  ―  to use amphetamine (illegally)

15. a surname

    安祿山／安禄山  ―  Ān Lùshān  ―  An Lushan

    1. (historical) a surname. Given to people from the Arsacid or Parthian Empire (安息 or 安國／安国)
16. Short for 安那其主義／安那其主义 (ānnàqí zhǔyì, “anarchism”).

Synonyms

• (ounce):

Compounds

Descendants

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: あん (an, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: あん (an, Jōyō)
• Kun: やすい (yasui, 安い, Jōyō); やすらか (yasuraka, 安らか); やすんじる (yasunjiru, 安んじる); いずくんぞ (izukunzo, 安んぞ)
• Nanori: あ (a); あす (asu); あず (azu); あっ (a'); や (ya)

Derived terms

• あ: the hiragana letter a

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 安 (MC 'an).

Affix

安(あん) • (an) 

1. calm; peaceful
2. tranquil
3. safe; secure
4. easy; simple
5. (chemistry) ammonium

Derived terms

Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

安

Wikisource

安 (eumhun 편안 안 (pyeonan an))

1. Hanja form^? of 안 (“peace, peacefulness”).

Compounds

Tày

Adjective

安 (an)

1. Nôm form of an (“peaceful”).

Vietnamese

Han character

安: Hán Việt readings: an, yên
安: Nôm readings: yên, an, án, ăn

1. chữ Hán form of an (“safe; secure”).
2. chữ Hán form of yên (“calm; peaceful”).

Compounds

References

Zhuang

Classifier

安

1. Alternative form of 𬻹 (“Sawndip form of aen”)

References

• 古壮字字典 (in Chinese), Guangxi: Ethnic Publishing House (广西民族出版社), 2012, →ISBN, page 1