幹

幹 (Kangxi radical 51, 干+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 十十人一十 (JJOMJ), four-corner 4844₁, composition ⿰𠦝𫢉)

• 𠿨, 擀, 澣, 檊, 𩼛, 𭗠, 𦼮, 簳

• 榦 (Variant traditional form of 幹 in mainland China)
• 干 (Simplified form of 幹 in mainland China)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 341, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9183
• Dae Jaweon: page 650, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 409, character 9
• Unihan data for U+5E79

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːns) : semantic 倝 + phonetic 干 (OC *kaːn).

The vulgar sense entered Mandarin from Hokkien 姦／奸 (kàn), as 姦 shares the same pronunciation with 幹 in Hokkien.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

幹

1. main part of something; body; trunk

   樹幹／树干  ―  shùgàn  ―  trunk of a plant

   軀幹／躯干  ―  qūgàn  ―  body of animals

   幹道／干道  ―  gàndào  ―  main road; high street

2. (colloquial) to do

   你在幹什麼？／你在干什么？  ―  Nǐ zài gàn shénme?  ―  What are you doing?

3. to work

   幹活／干活  ―  gànhuó  ―  to work

   你是幹什麼的？／你是干什么的？  ―  Nǐ shì gàn shénme de?  ―  What is your job?

4. (vulgar) to fuck; to engage in sexual intercourse

   幹恁娘！／干恁娘！ [Hokkien]  ―  Kàn-lín-niâ! [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  Fuck your mother!

   幹你媽！／干你妈！  ―  Gàn nǐ mā!  ―  Fuck your mother!

   • 金榮只一口咬定說：「方才明明的撞見他兩個在後院子里親嘴摸屁股，一對一肏，撅草根兒抽長短，誰長誰先幹。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     金荣只一口咬定说：「方才明明的撞见他两个在后院子里亲嘴摸屁股，一对一肏，撅草根儿抽长短，谁长谁先干。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Jīn Róng zhǐ yīkǒu yǎodìng shuō: “Fāngcái míngmíng de zhuàngjiàn tā liǎng ge zài hòuyuànzi lǐ qīnzuǐ mō pìgǔ, yīduìyī cào, juē cǎogēnr chōu chángduǎn, shéi cháng shéi xiān gàn.”

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

5. (vulgar) to kill

   幹掉他！／干掉他！  ―  Gàndiào tā!  ―  Kill him!

6. (vulgar, chiefly Taiwan) to steal

   誰幹走了我的筆？！ [MSC, trad.]
   谁干走了我的笔？！ [MSC, simp.]

   Shéi gàn zǒu le wǒ de bǐ?!

   Who stole my pen?!

7. (vulgar, chiefly Taiwan) to blame; to condemn

   公幹／公干  ―  gōng gàn  ―  criticized by everyone

8. (Taiwan, vulgar, colloquial) Expressing dismay or discontent.
9. (dialectal Mandarin) to sort someone out

   信不信我幹你？／信不信我干你？ [Northeastern Mandarin]  ―  Xìn bù xìn wǒ gàn nǐ?   ―  Believe it or not, I'll sort you out .

• (to do):

• (to fuck):

• → Proto-Tai: *kaːnꟲ
  • Lao: ກ້ານ (kān)
  • Shan: ၵၢၼ်ႈ (kāan)
  • Thai: ก้าน (gâan)

幹

1. just
2. calm
3. Alternative form of 干 (“heavenly stem”)
4. dead

幹

1. Alternative form of 韓／韩 (hán, “fence around a well”)

• “幹”, 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–

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: かん (kan, Jōyō)
• Kun: みき (miki, 幹, Jōyō)、から (kara, 幹)

Originally a compound of 身(み) (mi, “body”) + 木(き) (ki, “tree”).^[1][2][3]

First cited to a text from 1726.^[1]

• (Tokyo) みき (Atamadaka – )^[2][4]
• (Tokyo) みき (Heiban – )^[4]
• IPA^(key):

幹(みき) • (miki) 

1. the trunk or core of something:
   1. a tree trunk
   2. a plant stalk

From Middle Chinese 幹 (MC kanH).

• IPA^(key):

幹(かん) • (kan) 

1. tree trunk; stem
2. main part; core
3. talent; capability

幹 • (gan) (hangeul 간, revised gan, McCune–Reischauer kan)

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

幹: Hán Việt readings: can, cán, hàn
幹: Nôm readings: cán

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