欲

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

欲 (Kangxi radical 76, 欠+7, 11 strokes, cangjie input 金口弓人 (CRNO), four-corner 8768₂, composition ⿰谷欠)

Derived characters

• 慾 螸

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 567, character 36
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 16080
• Dae Jaweon: page 956, character 10
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2140, character 7
• Unihan data for U+6B32

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 欲
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *loɡ) : phonetic 谷 (OC *ɦkroːɡ, *kloːɡ, *ɡ·loːɡ) + semantic 欠.

Etymology 1

Sino-Tibetan. Compare Burmese လို (lui, “to want; to desire”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-ju(w) (“to ask; to request”), whence Tibetan ཞུ (zhu, “to request”) (ibid.).

Pronunciation

Definitions

欲

1. wish; desire

   口腹之欲  ―  kǒufùzhīyù  ―  desire to eat

   控制欲  ―  kòngzhì yù  ―  desire to control

   權力欲／权力欲  ―  quánlì yù  ―  desire for power

2. to wish; to desire; to want

   • 工欲善其事，必先利其器。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

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

     Gōng yù shàn qí shì, bì xiān lì qí qì.

     If a workman wishes to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools.

   • 如閣下欲以電郵聯絡政府資訊中心，請透過網頁：XYZ傳送問題。 [MSC, trad.]
     如阁下欲以电邮联络政府资讯中心，请透过网页：XYZ传送问题。 [MSC, simp.]

     Rú géxià yù yǐ diànyóu liánluò zhèngfǔ zīxùn zhōngxīn, qǐng tòuguò wǎngyè: XYZ chuánsòng wèntí.

     Please send your enquiries and suggestions to the Public Information Centre by email via the homepage: XYZ.

3. about to

   搖搖欲墜／摇摇欲坠  ―  yáoyáoyùzhuì  ―  tottering (literally, “shaking or swaying as if about to collapse”)

Compounds

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

From the grammaticalization of 發 (OC *pad, “to send out; to go forth; to proceed”) (Tu, 2017).

Pronunciation

Definitions

欲

1. (Eastern Min, Hokkien, Hainanese) to want (to do)

   你欲佮我去圖書館無？ [Hokkien, trad.]
   你欲佮我去图书馆无？ [Hokkien, simp.]

   Lí beh kah góa khì tô͘-su-koán bô? [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   Do you want to go to the library with me?

   • 魯憋去哪溜 [Hainanese, trad.]
     鲁憋去哪溜 [Hainanese, simp.]

     From: 金岛乐团, lyrics by 卢海清, 琼海溜

     Where do you want to go?

2. (Hokkien) to wish to have or keep

   我欲新的冊。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   我欲新的册。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Góa beh sin ê chheh. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   I want a new book.

3. (Eastern Min, Hokkien) about to

   欲落雨矣，咱著出去收衫。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   欲落雨矣，咱着出去收衫。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Beh lo̍h-hō͘--ah, lán tio̍h chhut-khì siu-saⁿ. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   It's about to rain! Let's go out to bring in the laundry.

   • 天烏烏，欲落雨。 [Hokkien, trad.]
     天乌乌，欲落雨。 [Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 《天烏烏》 (Hokkien nursery rhyme)

     Thiⁿ o͘-o͘, beh lo̍h-hō͘. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     The sky is dark; it seems like it will rain.

4. (Hokkien, Hainanese) if

   欲我，我就會較早睏。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   欲我，我就会较早困。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Beh góa, góa tō ē khah-chá khùn. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   If I were you, I would've slept earlier.

Synonyms

• (to wish to have or keep): 要 (yāo); (Hokkien) 欲挃

Compounds

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Definitions

欲

1. (Eastern Min, Southern Min) Alternative form of 愛／爱
   1. (Eastern Min, Hokkien) to like
   2. (Teochew) to want (an object)
   3. (Eastern Min, Hokkien, Teochew) to want (to do); to wish
   4. (Hokkien, Teochew) to need to; must
   5. (Teochew) about to
   6. (Eastern Min, Hokkien) to be prone; to be easy to

See also

• 要 (yào)

References

• “Query for 欲”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Hokkien and Mandarin), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. want

Readings

• Go-on: よく (yoku, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: よく (yoku, Jōyō)
• Kun: ほしい (hoshii, 欲しい, Jōyō); ほっする (ho'suru, 欲する, Jōyō); ほりす (horisu, 欲す)

Usage notes

This character was sometimes used to phonetically transcribe the Old Japanese word for “night” (yo).

Compounds

• 愛(あい)欲(よく) (aiyoku)
• 強(ごう)欲(よく) (gōyoku)
• 色(しき)欲(よく) (shikiyoku)
• 食(しょく)欲(よく) (shokuyoku)
• 性(せい)欲(よく) (seiyoku)
• 大(たい)欲(よく) (taiyoku)
• 物(ぶつ)欲(よく) (butsuyoku)
• 無(む)欲(よく) (muyoku)
• 名(めい)誉(よ)欲(よく) (meiyoyoku)

Etymology

Attested from the thirteenth century.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) よく​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

欲(よく) • (yoku) 

1. desire, a want, that which is wanted

   Synonym: 欲望 (yokubō)

   欲(よく)を言(い)うと

   yoku o iu to

   ideally; if one were to ask for one's desire

2. greed, avarice

   Synonym: 強欲 (gōyoku)

   欲(よく)の塊(かたまり)

   yoku no katamari

   greed incarnate; a lump of avarice

3. ambition, will

   Synonym: 意欲 (iyoku)

   欲(よく)を出(だ)せ

   yoku o dase

   aim high; show ambition

References

Korean

Hanja

欲 (eumhun 바랄 욕 (baral yok))

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Vietnamese

Han character

欲: Hán Nôm readings: dục, giục

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