沒

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

沒 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 水弓水 (ENE), four-corner 3714₇, composition ⿰氵⿱勹又)

Related characters

• 没 (Japanese shinjitai and simplified Chinese)
• 𠬠 (Vietnamese chữ nôm)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 611, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17204
• Dae Jaweon: page 1004, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1571, character 2
• Unihan data for U+6C92

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯːd) : semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 𠬛 ().

Etymology 1

Possibly a colloquial variant of 勿 (MC mjut) or 未 (MC mj+jH), which fused with or was influenced by 有 (MC hjuwX); not derived from 沒 (OC *mɯːd, “to dive; to drown”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

沒

1. not have; there is not; to be without

   沒意思／没意思  ―  méiyìsī  ―  uninteresting

   已經沒了／已经没了  ―  yǐjīng méi le  ―  is already gone; there is already no more

   沒錢沒工作／没钱没工作  ―  méi qián méi gōngzuò  ―  to have no money and no job

   這兒沒人。／这儿没人。  ―  Zhèr méi rén.  ―  There's nobody here.

2. to be not so ... as (when comparing)

   我沒你高。／我没你高。  ―  Wǒ méi nǐ gāo.  ―  I'm not as tall as you.

3. less than; no more than
4. Negative prefix for verb 有 (yǒu, “to have”).

   我沒有朋友。／我没有朋友。  ―  Wǒ méiyǒu péngyǒu.  ―  I have no friends.

5. have not or did not (negative prefix for verbs, translated into other languages with verbs in the past tense)

   他沒來。／他没来。  ―  Tā méi lái.  ―  He didn't come.

   我還沒說完呢。／我还没说完呢。  ―  Wǒ hái méi shuō wán ne.  ―  I haven't finished talking.

   沒懂……／没懂……  ―  méi dǒng......  ―  I don't get it…

6. (euphemistic, colloquial) to pass away

Synonyms

See also

• 不 (bù)
• 沒有／没有 (méiyǒu)

Compounds

Etymology 2

According to Schuessler (2007), formed from the convergence of two etyma:

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mit (“to extinguish”). The i ~ u alternation is a common phenomenon in Sino-Tibetan.
• An etymon meaning "to dive", whence Burmese မြုပ် (mrup, “to sink; to be submerged”), which is a loan from Proto-Mon-Khmer *(b)ləp (“to immerse”) according to Shorto (1972).

Unrelated to etymology 1.

Pronunciation

Definitions

沒

1. to drown; to sink; to submerge; to inundate

   淹沒／淹没  ―  yānmò  ―  to submerge; to inundate

   沒入水中／没入水中  ―  mò rù shuǐ zhōng  ―  to sink into the water

2. to rise beyond; to cover; to overflow

   水深沒腰／水深没腰  ―  shuǐ shēn mò yāo  ―  the water was waist-deep

   • c. 1935, Mao Dun, “冬天”, in 速寫與隨筆, 6th edition, 開明書店, published 1946, page 96:

     照例到了冬天，野外全是灰黃色的枯草，又高又密，腳踏下去簌簌地響，有時沒到你的腿彎上。 [MSC, trad.]
     照例到了冬天，野外全是灰黄色的枯草，又高又密，脚踏下去簌簌地响，有时没到你的腿弯上。 [MSC, simp.]

     Zhàolì dào le dōngtiān, yěwài quán shì huī huáng sè de kūcǎo, yòu gāo yòu mì, jiǎo tà xiàqù sùsù dì xiǎng, yǒushí mò dào nǐ de tuǐwān shàng.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. to end; to finish

   沒齒不忘／没齿不忘  ―  mòchǐ bùwàng  ―  not to forget to the end of one's days

4. to disappear; to vanish

   出沒／出没  ―  chūmò  ―  to appear and disappear

5. to confiscate

   沒收／没收  ―  mòshōu  ―  to confiscate

6. (literary) Alternative form of 歿／殁 (mò, “to die; to pass away”)

   • 子曰：「父在，觀其志；父沒，觀其行；三年無改於父之道，可謂孝矣。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「父在，观其志；父没，观其行；三年无改于父之道，可谓孝矣。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Zǐ yuē: “Fù zài, guān qí zhì; fù mò, guān qí xíng; sān nián wú gǎi yú fù zhī dào, kěwèi xiào yǐ.”

     The Master said, "While a man's father is alive, look at the bent of his will; when his father is dead, look at his conduct. If for three years he does not alter from the way of his father, he may be called filial."

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 没)

1. discard, reject
2. death
3. lacking, without

Readings

• On (unclassified): ぼつ (botsu); ばい (bai); ば (ba)
• Kun: しずむ (shizumu, 沒む); おぼれる (oboreru, 沒れる); しぬ (shinu, 沒ぬ)

Korean

Hanja

沒 (eumhun 가라앉을 몰 (garaanjeul mol))

1. Hanja form^? of 몰 (“drown, sink”).
2. Hanja form^? of 몰 (“not, have not, none”).

Vietnamese

Han character

沒: Hán Việt readings: một
沒: Nôm readings: mốt, một

Etymology 1

Numeral

沒 • (một)

1. Nôm form of một (“one”).

Etymology 2

Numeral

沒 • (mốt)

1. Nôm form of mốt (“(only in compounds or fixed expressions) one; -one”).