惡

Translingual

Han character

惡 (Kangxi radical 61, 心+8, 12 strokes, cangjie input 一一心 (MMP), four-corner 1033₁, composition ⿱亞心)

Derived characters

• 僫 噁 䜑 鐚 癋 𡢇 𢵣 𣩤 𣽏 𪹪 𥼳 𦠲 𧑕 𤡾 𪅴 𦼇 𭞪 𬄚 𭃁

Descendants

• Japanese: 𛀅

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 391, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10824
• Dae Jaweon: page 724, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2307, character 12
• Unihan data for U+60E1

• Unihan data for U+F9B9

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 惡
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qaː, *qaːɡs, *qaːɡ) : phonetic 亞 (OC *qraːɡs) + semantic 心 (“heart”).

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔak (“bad”); cognate with Tibetan ཨག་པོ (ag po, “bad”) (Coblin, 1986; Schuessler, 2007). Also related to Thai ยาก (yâak, “difficult”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

惡

1. evil; wicked; foul

   惡毒／恶毒  ―  èdú  ―  malicious

   他經常作惡，這回終於犯事了。 [MSC, trad.]
   他经常作恶，这回终于犯事了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā jīngcháng zuò'è, zhè huí zhōngyú fànshì le.

   He often does bad things and has finally been caught.

   Antonym: 善 (shàn)

2. fierce; hostile; ferocious

   惡戰／恶战  ―  èzhàn  ―  to fight fiercely

   內有惡犬／内有恶犬  ―  nèi yǒu è quǎn  ―  there is a fierce dog inside

   佢心情唔好就好惡㗎喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢心情唔好就好恶㗎喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ sam¹ cing⁴ m⁴ hou² zau⁶ hou² ok³ gaa³ laa³.

   When he's upset, he gets really hostile.

3. (Cantonese, transitive) to be hostile against (someone)
4. bad; poor

   惡習／恶习  ―  èxí  ―  bad habits

   惡化／恶化  ―  èhuà  ―  to deteriorate

   • 士志於道，而恥惡衣惡食者，未足與議也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     士志于道，而耻恶衣恶食者，未足与议也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Shì zhì yú dào, ér chǐ è yī è shí zhě, wèi zú yǔ yì yě.

     A scholar, whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with.

5. (Cantonese, Southern Min) difficult

   呢單嘢好惡搞。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   呢单嘢好恶搞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ni¹ daan¹ je⁵ hou² ok³ gaau².

   This is really hard to deal with.

6. (Quanzhou, Xiamen and Philippine Hokkien) to verbally abuse; to reprimand; to curse; to rebuke
7. (Taiwanese Hokkien) slow

Synonyms

Compounds

Descendants

Etymology 2

Exoactive of etymology 1 (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

惡

1. to hate; to loathe; to dislike

   厭惡／厌恶  ―  yànwù  ―  to loathe

   • 死亦我所惡，所惡有甚於死者，故患有所不辟也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     死亦我所恶，所恶有甚于死者，故患有所不辟也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Sǐ yì wǒ suǒ wù, suǒ wù yǒu shèn yú sǐ zhě, gù huàn yǒu suǒ bù bì yě.

     I dislike death indeed, but there is that which I dislike more than death, and therefore there are occasions when I will not avoid danger.

   • 好賢如《緇衣》，惡惡如《巷伯》。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     好贤如《缁衣》，恶恶如《巷伯》。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Hào xián rú “Zī Yī”, wù è rú “Xiàng Bó”.

     Love the good (persons) like how the poet of Black Robes loves her lover, and loathe the wicked like the poet who wrote Xiang Bo.

   • 又有可怪者。上帝惡世人罪惡，破天淵之水，以盡滅之，又俯念以色列盡戮埃及長子。此時其「不忍仁愛之性」未知何處去。 [Korean Literary Sinitic, trad.]

     From: 1961, ​Kim Yeong'ik (金永益), 《西敎辨》

     U yu ga goe ja. Sangje o sein joeak, pa cheon yeon ji su, i jin myeol ji, u bunyeom Isaengnyeol jin ryuk Aegup jangja. Chasi gi "burin inae ji seong" miji hacheo geo. [Sino-Korean]

     There is another strange thing. God hating the sins of the people of the world, he broke open the waters of the heavenly vaults and annihilated them all thereby; and looking down upon Israel, he massacred all of Egypt's eldest sons. I do not know where this "kindhearted nature which cannot bear " was to be found at those times.

Compounds

Etymology 3

Cognate with 安 (OC *qaːn, “where; how”), 焉 (OC *qan, “where; how”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

惡

1. ^† An interrogative pronoun: how

   • 君子去仁，惡乎成名？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     君子去仁，恶乎成名？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Jūnzǐ qù rén, wū hū chéngmíng?

     If a superior man abandon virtue, how can he fulfil the requirements of that name?

   • 自我觀之，仁義之端，是非之塗，樊然殽亂，吾惡能知其辯？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     自我观之，仁义之端，是非之涂，樊然淆乱，吾恶能知其辩？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Zì wǒ guān zhī, rényì zhī duān, shìfēi zhī tú, fánrán yáoluàn, wú wū néng zhī qí biàn?

     As I look at the matter, the first principles of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of approval and disapproval are inextricably mixed and confused together - how is it possible that I should know how to discriminate among them?

   • 先生飲一斗而醉，惡能飲一石哉？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     先生饮一斗而醉，恶能饮一石哉？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Xiānshēng yǐn yī dǒu ér zuì, wū néng yǐn yī dàn zāi?

     You, sir, become drunk after drinking just one dou; how can you drink one dan?

2. ^† Interjection used to express surprise: oh; ah

Compounds

See also

• 烏／乌 (wū)

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

Probably related to etymologies 1 and 2 (Zhengzhang, 2011b; Xiang, 2019). Alternatively, 涴 (MC 'waH, “to soil; to stain”) has been proposed to be the etymon (Cao, 2008).

Pronunciation

Definitions

惡

1. (Wu) excrement

Synonyms

References

• “惡”, 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–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A01382

Japanese

Kanji

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

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

Readings

• Go-on: あく (aku); う (u)
• Kan-on: あく (aku); お (o)
• Kun: わるい (warui, 惡い)

Korean

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 惡 (MC 'ak).

Pronunciation

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

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

惡

Wikisource

惡 (eumhun 악할 악 (akhal ak))

1. Hanja form^? of 악 (“evil; wickedness”).

Compounds

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 惡 (MC 'uH).

Pronunciation

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

Hanja

惡 (eumhun 미워할 오 (miwohal o))

1. Hanja form^? of 오 (“to hate”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Tày

Adjective

惡 (ác)

1. Nôm form of ác (“much, evil”).

Vietnamese

Han character

惡: Hán Nôm readings: ác, ố

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