望

望 U+FA93, 望 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA93 ← 朗 CJK Compatibility Ideographs 杖 →

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Alternative forms

Note that in simplified Chinese and Vietnamese scripts, 亡 is written with an upward hook. In Hong Kong and Taiwan (traditional Chinese script), 月 is written like 夕 with an extra slash below while 王 is written as 𡈼. In Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the bottom component is written 王. Note that the standard Kangxi form is written ⿱⿰亡月𡈼.

Han character

望 (Kangxi radical 74, 月+7, 11 strokes, cangjie input 卜月竹土 (YBHG) or 卜月一土 (YBMG), four-corner 0710₄, composition ⿱⿰亡月王(GJKV) or ⿱⿰亡𱼀𡈼(HT))

Derived characters

• 𥊛, 𠻾, 𧫢, 𦹑, 𥲠, 𭩌

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 505, character 29
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14368
• Dae Jaweon: page 884, character 23
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2080, character 2
• Unihan data for U+671B

• Unihan data for U+FA93

• Unihan data for U+2F8D9

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 望
Shang	Western Zhou
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions

Originally written 𦣠, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 臣 (“eye”) + 𡈼 (“person standing on the ground”) – a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 (“moon”) was added to produce 朢.

The 臣 component is now written 亡, making the current form a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maŋ, *maŋs) : phonetic 亡 (OC *maŋ) + semantic 月 + semantic 𡈼.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mraŋ (“to see”). Cognate with Burmese မြင် (mrang).

Pronunciation

Definitions

望

1. to see; to watch (especially from a distance)

   眺望  ―  tiàowàng  ―  to watch from a vantage point

   • 吾視其轍亂，望其旗靡，故逐之。 [MSC, trad.]
     吾视其辙乱，望其旗靡，故逐之。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: Zuozhuan.

     Wú shì qí zhé luàn, wàng qí qí mǐ, gù zhú zhī.

     Having seen the disorderly tracks they left behind and espied their low-hanging banners afar, I gave the order to pursue them.

   • 望之不似人君。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wàng zhī bù sì rénjūn.

     When I looked at him – even from a distance – I could not find a leader there.

2. (chiefly dialectal) to look; to look at

   東張西望／东张西望  ―  dōngzhāngxīwàng  ―  to look around

   我望嚟望去都望唔到喎！ [Cantonese, trad.]
   我望嚟望去都望唔到㖞！ [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ mong⁶ lai⁴ mong⁶ heoi³ dou¹ mong⁶ m⁴ dou^3-2 wo³!

   I kept looking but I still can't see it!

   望下嗰度！ [Cantonese]  ―  mong⁶ haa⁵ go² dou⁶!   ―  Look over there!

   望左 [Cantonese]  ―  mong⁶ zo²   ―  look left (found on roads in Hong Kong)

   • 含住個雞包仔　望住四寶雞扎 [Cantonese, trad.]
     含住个鸡包仔　望住四宝鸡扎 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 2001, 謝立文 (Brian Tse), 麥兜與雞 (theme song of My Life as McDull)

     ham⁴ zyu⁶ go³ gai¹ baau¹ zai², mong⁶ zyu⁶ sei³ bou² gai¹ zaat³

     With a chicken bun in my mouth, staring at the four-treasure chicken roll

3. to gaze at; to stare at

   • 舉頭望明月，低頭思故鄉。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     举头望明月，低头思故乡。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Tang Dynasty, 李白 (Li Bai), 靜夜思 ("Quiet Night Thought")

     Jǔtóu wàng míngyuè, dītóu sī gùxiāng.

     I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon and bow my head to think of my hometown.

4. (figurative) to observe; to watch

   觀望／观望  ―  guānwàng  ―  to observe without taking action

5. to hope; to expect

   希望  ―  xīwàng  ―  to hope; to wish; to desire

   願望／愿望  ―  yuànwàng  ―  wish; desire

6. fame; reputation

   名望  ―  míngwàng  ―  fame

   威望  ―  wēiwàng  ―  prestige

7. location; locality

   郡望  ―  jùnwàng  ―  ancestral home; place of origin (of one's lineage)

   地望  ―  dìwàng  ―  geographical location; geography

8. (Chinese astronomy) the day or night of the full moon

   朔望月  ―  shuòwàngyuè  ―  synodic month

   • 壬戌之秋，七月既望，蘇子與客泛舟遊於赤壁之下。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     壬戌之秋，七月既望，苏子与客泛舟游于赤壁之下。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1082, Su Shi (蘇軾), The Red Wall: Summer (《前赤壁賦》). English translation by Herbert Allen Giles.

     Rénxū zhī qiū, qīyuè jìwàng, Sūzǐ yǔ kè fànzhōu yóu yú Chìbì zhī xià.

     In the year 1081, the seventh moon just on the wane, I went with a friend on a boat excursion to the Red Wall.

Synonyms

Compounds

Descendants

• → Thai: มอง (mɔɔng, “watch, look”)

References

• “望”, 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

Shinjitai	望
Kyūjitai	望󠄁 望+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	望󠄅 望+󠄅? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. wish
2. hope
3. desire

Readings

• Go-on: もう (mō, Jōyō)^{←まう (mau, historical)}
• Kan-on: ぼう (bō, Jōyō)^{←ばう (bau, historical)}
• Kun: のぞむ (nozomu, 望む, Jōyō); のぞましい (nozomashii, 望ましい); のぞみ (nozomi); もち (mochi, 望)
• Nanori: のぞみ (nozomi); のぞむ (nozomu); み (mi); もち (mochi)

Compounds

• 望(ぼう)遠(えん) (bōen): seeing at a distance
• 希(き)望(ぼう) (kibō): hope, wish, aspiration
• 絶(ぜつ)望(ぼう) (zetsubō): despair, hopelessness

Proper noun

望(のぞむ) • (Nozomu) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

望(のぞみ) • (Nozomi) 

1. a female given name

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 望 (MC mjangH). Recorded as Middle Korean 마ᇰ〯 (mǎng) (Yale: mǎng) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

望

Wikisource

望 (eumhun 바랄 망 (baral mang))

1. Hanja form^? of 망 (“to desire; to expect; to hope”).
2. Hanja form^? of 망 (“to gaze; to look”).
3. Hanja form^? of 망 (“to admire; to respect”).
4. Hanja form^? of 망 (“to peek; to peep”).

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.

Vietnamese

Han character

望: Hán Nôm readings: vọng

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