已

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

See images of
Radical 49 已

已 (Kangxi radical 49, 己+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 尸山 (SU) or 難尸山 (XSU), four-corner 1771₇, composition ⿻コ乚)

Usage notes

This character is not to be confused with visually similar but unrelated 己 or 巳.

Derived characters

• 𠖰, 𡉏, 𡴾, 𢩽, 𨑓, 𤣱, 𥝗, 𫧟, 𬜒, 𧿆, 𩨕, 𩝮, 𬀺, 𥮄
• 𤏁 (Exception: Only for Taiwan character form as Hong Kong character contains 己 instead)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 326, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8743
• Dae Jaweon: page 630, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 984, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5DF2

Chinese

Glyph origin

May have originally been the same character as 巳, a pictogram (象形) of either a snake or a fetus. This character cannot be found in the Shuowen Jiezi.

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Etymology not clear (Schuessler, 2007). The “already” sense is lexicalized from the verb “to finish; to complete”, and gradually became more common than 既 (OC *kɯds), the older word for “already”, in the mid- to late first millennium BCE (Pulleyblank, 1995).

Definitions

已

1. to stop; to finish

   • 任重而道遠。仁以為己任，不亦重乎？死而後已，不亦遠乎？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     任重而道远。仁以为己任，不亦重乎？死而后已，不亦远乎？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Rèn zhòng ér dào yuǎn. Rén yǐwèi jǐ rèn, bù yì zhòng hū? Sǐ érhòu yǐ, bù yì yuǎn hū?

     duty is heavy and way is far. He takes benevolence to be his duty; is that not heavy indeed? is completed when he dies; is that not far indeed?

   • 此水幾時休，此恨何時已。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     此水几时休，此恨何时已。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Song Dynasty, 李之儀, 《卜算子·我住長江頭》

     Cǐ shuǐ jǐshí xiū, cǐ hèn héshí yǐ.

     When will the river cease to flow? When will this brooding end?

2. already; have done something

   • 年已七十矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Nián yǐ qīshí yǐ.

     He was already seventy years old.

   • 若已食則退，若未食則佐長者視具。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     若已食则退，若未食则佐长者视具。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Ruò yǐ shí zé tuì, ruò wèi shí zé zuǒ chángzhě shì jù.

     If they have eaten already, they should retire; if they have not eaten, they will assist their elder and see what has been prepared.

   • 情義已失去，恩愛都失去 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     情义已失去，恩爱都失去 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1983, 陳百強, 《偏偏喜歡你》

     cing⁴ ji⁶ ji⁵ sat¹ heoi³, jan¹ oi³ dou¹ sat¹ heoi³

     Friendship has already gone, and all of the love is gone

Synonyms

Etymology 2

Possibly a fusion of 也 (OC *laːlʔ) and 矣 (OC *ɢlɯʔ), explaining why the latter is never found after the former (Pulleyblank, 1995).

Definitions

已

1. (Classical) Used after predicates, especially noun predicates, to express a new realization by the speaker. Compare 矣 (yǐ), which is used similarly but only after verbs. Sometimes expanded to 也已 or 也已矣, which are synonymous.

   • 然則王之所大欲可知已。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     然则王之所大欲可知已。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Ránzé wáng zhī suǒ dà yù kě zhī yǐ.

     Then, what your Majesty greatly desires may be known.

   • 入其境，其田疇穢，都邑露，是貪主已。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     入其境，其田畴秽，都邑露，是贪主已。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

     Rù qí jìng, qí tiánchóu huì, dōuyì lù, shì tān zhǔ yǐ.

     If, upon entering the borders, the fields are in poor condition and the towns are exposed, one can tell that this is the a covetous ruler.

Compounds

References

• “已”, 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

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings

• Go-on: い (i)
• Kan-on: い (i)
• Kun: すでに (sudeni, 已に); やむ (yamu, 已む); のみ (nomi, 已)
• Nanori: み (mi)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 已 (MC yiX|yiH).

Affix

已(い) • (i) 

1. already
2. Alternative form of 以 (i)

Derived terms

May be replaced with 以 in some compounds, e.g. 已降→以降.

Korean

Hanja

已 • (i) (hangeul 이, revised i, McCune–Reischauer i)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

已: Hán Nôm readings: dĩ, dãi

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