男

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

男 (Kangxi radical 102, 田+2, 7 strokes, cangjie input 田大尸 (WKS), four-corner 6042₇, composition ⿱田力)

Derived characters

• 侽, 𠲸, 娚, 㭷, 甥, 㽒, 𤳆, 嫐, 嬲, 勇, 莮, 舅, 虜, 𡇨

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 759, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 21730
• Dae Jaweon: page 1169, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2529, character 5
• Unihan data for U+7537

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 男
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 田 (“field”) + 力 (“strength”) – man providing the strength for agricultural and/or other kinds of (physical) labour on a field.

Etymology

Probably an area word. Compare Proto-Kiranti *nam (“man”), Proto-Monic *k()ɲoom (“young child”), Proto-Wa *h/ʔn[o]m (“young man”), Thai หนุ่ม (nùm, “young man; young”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

男

1. man; (only of human in Standard Chinese) male

   男人  ―  nánrén  ―  man

   男孩  ―  nánhái  ―  boy

   Coordinate term: 女

2. son

   長男／长男  ―  zhǎngnán  ―  eldest son

3. baron, lowest of the five ranks of Chinese aristocracy (五等爵位) under the Zhou dynasty

   • 冬十有二月，會齊侯、宋公、陳侯、衛侯、鄭伯、許男、滑伯、滕子同盟於幽。邾子克卒。 [MSC, trad.]
     冬十有二月，会齐侯、宋公、陈侯、卫侯、郑伯、许男、滑伯、滕子同盟于幽。邾子克卒。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: Spring and Autumn Annals, circa 5th century BCE

     Dōng shíyǒu'èr yuè, huì Qíhóu, Sònggōng, Chénhóu, Wèihóu, Zhèngbó, Xǔnán, Huábó, Téngzǐ tóngméng yú Yōu. Zhūzǐ Kè zú.

     Winter, 12th month: we met the Marquis of Qi, the Duke of Song, Marquis of Chen, Marquis of Wey, Count of Zheng, Baron of Xu, Count of Hua, Viscount of Teng; we swore an alliance-covenant at You. Viscount Ke of Zhu died.

4. a surname

Synonyms

• 公 (gōng, “male (of animals)”)

Compounds

Descendants

References

• “男”, 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

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. man
2. son
3. baron

Readings

• Go-on: なん (nan, Jōyō)^{←なん (nan, historical)←なむ (namu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: だん (dan, Jōyō)^{←だん (dan, historical)←だむ (damu, ancient)}
• Kun: おとこ (otoko, 男, Jōyō)^{←をとこ (wotoko, 男, historical)}; お (o, 男)^{←を (wo, 男, historical)}; おのこ (onoko, 男)
• Nanori: いさみ (isami); いさむ (isamu); おと (oto)^{←をと (woto, historical)}

Compounds

Etymology 1

⟨woto₂ko₁⟩ → */wotəkʷo/ → /wotoko/ → /otoko/

From Old Japanese.

Derived from おと (oto, “young?”, cognate with Old Japanese 復つ (wotu → otsu, “to become young again”)) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”).

Compare 少女 (otome, “young woman”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おとこ​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

男(おとこ) • (otoko) ^{←をとこ (wotoko)?}

1. a male person

   Antonym: 女 (onna)

2. (specifically) a man, an adult male

   Antonym: 女 (onna)

3. 男, 漢: (specifically) a manly man
4. a male lover

   Synonyms: 愛人 (aijin), 情人 (jōjin, jōnin), 情夫 (jōfu)

5. a manservant

   Synonym: 下男 (genan)

6. a husband

   Synonym: 夫 (otto)

7. (obsolete) an unmarried young man
8. (colloquial) homosexuality

   Synonyms: 男色 (danshoku), 若道 (nyakudō)

Derived terms

Idioms

Proverbs

• 男(おとこ)の目(め)には糸(いと)を引(ひ)け女(おんな)の目(め)には鈴(すず)を張(は)れ (otoko no me ni wa ito o hike onna no me ni wa suzu o hare)
• 男(おとこ)は度胸(どきょう)女(おんな)は愛嬌(あいきょう) (otoko wa dokyō onna wa aikyō)
• 男(おとこ)は裸(はだか)百貫(ひゃっかん) (otoko wa hadaka-hyakkan)

Proper noun

男(おとこ) • (Otoko) ^{←をとこ (wotoko)?}

1. a surname

Etymology 2

/wo/ → /o/

From Old Japanese.

Alternative forms

• 夫
• (male): 雄, 牡

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) お​ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

男(お) • (o) ^{←を (wo)?}

1. a man

   Antonym: 女 (me)

   • 711–712, Kojiki, (poem 5):

     ...那許曾波(なこそは)遠(を)迩伊麻世婆(にいませば)... [Man'yōgana]

     ...汝(な)こそはをにいませば... [Modern spelling]

     na koso wa o ni imaseba

     (please add an English translation of this example)

2. a husband

   Synonym: 夫 (otto)

   Antonym: 女 (me)

3. a male

   Antonym: 女, 牝, 雌 (me)

4. something large, powerful, or otherwise masculine

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Compound of 男 (o, “male”, see above) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) お​のこ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

男(おのこ) • (onoko) ^{←をのこ (wonoko)?}

1. a boy

Derived terms

Etymology 4

/nam/ → /namʉ/ → /naɴ/

From Middle Chinese 男 (MC nom).

The 呉音 (goon) reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

男(なん) • (nan) 

1. a man

   Synonym: 男性 (dansei)

2. a son

   Synonyms: 倅 (segare), 息子 (musuko)

Derived terms

• 一(いち)男(なん) (ichinan)

Etymology 5

/dam/ → /damʉ/ → /daɴ/

From Middle Chinese 男 (MC nom).

The 漢音 (kan'on) reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Noun

男(だん) • (dan) 

1. a man
2. a son
3. a young man, especially one who reached adulthood

   Synonyms: 壮丁 (sōtei), 若者 (wakamono)

4. (historical) a baron

   Synonym: 男爵 (danshaku)

Proper noun

男(だん) • (Dan) 

1. a male given name

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 男 (MC nom). Recorded as Middle Korean 남 (nam) (Yale: nam) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

男

Wikisource

男 (eumhun 사내 남 (sanae nam))

1. Hanja form^? of 남 (“man”).

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.

Kunigami

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: いけが (ikhega, 男); うんが (unga, 男)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Ryukyuan *weke + *-ga (“diminutive suffix”).

Noun

男(いけが) (ikhega) 

1. man

Etymology 2

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wenga.

Noun

男(うんが) (unga) 

1. man

Oki-No-Erabu

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: いぃんが (yinga, 男); ゐんが (inga, 男)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wenga.

Noun

男(いぃんが) or 男(ゐんが) (yinga or inga) 

1. man

References

• “いぃんが・ゐんが【男】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Okinawan

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: ゐきが (wikiga, 男); ゆきが (yukiga, 男); うぅとぅく (wutuku, 男)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Ryukyuan *weke + *-ga (“diminutive suffix”).

Noun

男(ゐきが) or 男(ゆきが) (wikiga or yukiga) 

1. man

Derived terms

• 男(ゐきが)しーじゃ (wikiga shīja, “older brother”)

Etymology 2

Possibly from Japanese 男 (otoko, “man”).

Noun

男(うぅとぅく) (wutuku) 

1. (literary) man

References

• “ゐきが【男】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Vietnamese

Han character

男: Hán Việt readings: nam
男: Nôm readings: nam

1. chữ Hán form of nam (“man; male”).

Derived terms

References

Yonaguni

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: びんが (binga, 男)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wenga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biŋɡa/

Noun

男(びんが) (binga) 

1. man

Yoron

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: をぅいが (uiga, 男)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *weke + *-ga (“diminutive suffix”).

Noun

男(をぅいが) (uiga) 

1. man