米

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

See images of
Radical 119 米

米 (Kangxi radical 119, 米+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 火木 (FD), four-corner 9090₄, composition ⿻丷木(GHJKV) or ⿻十⿱丷八(T) or ⿻丷⿻十八(T))

1. Kangxi radical #119, ⽶.

Derived characters

• Appendix:Chinese radical/米
• 侎, 咪, 𪤹, 𫰤, 𢘺, 𢬊, 洣, 𤝸, 迷, 𭥻, 𭩽, 𣧲, 毩, 𤇿, 𤥄, 脒, 眯, 𥒄, 𥞪, 䋛, 詸, 𧵵, 𨀷, 𮠩, 𡲸, 銤, 𩗐, 𩡅, 䱊, 𫜇, 𪌬, 𮮒, 𪓋, 𡅊
• 釆, 冞, 夈, 宩, 屎, 㪰, 㫧, 𭽀, 𥅼, 𥞫, 𥥪, 䍘, 𥭁, 𦊮, 𩂮, 𫡿, 𢊪, 𤌟, 𩭄, 𪀳, 麋, 𮒷
• 𫥾, 𫦨, 敉, 料, 𭩼, 𧊾, 頪, 𪀿, 㐘, 𢘻, 𢍨, 𭫮, 麊, 匊, 氣, 𠩕, 𢈍, 𠤻, 𡇒, 𧗱, 歯

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 906, character 31
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 26832
• Dae Jaweon: page 1331, character 28
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3141, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7C73

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 米 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 米 (Cantonese)
• 米 (Classical)
• mī (Eastern Min)
• bí (Southern Min)

Glyph origin

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

Pictogram (象形) – rice kernels.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma-j ~ mej (“rice; paddy”). Cognate with Garo mi (“rice”), Atong (India) mai (“rice”), Jingpho ma (“rice; paddy”), Rabha মাই (mai), Dimasa mai.

Pronunciation

Definitions

米

1. hulled or husked uncooked rice (Classifier: 粒 m c mn; 顆／颗 m)
2. husked seed
3. grain-like things
4. (chiefly Cantonese) Short for 米粉 (mǐfěn, “rice vermicelli”).

   星洲炒米  ―  Xīngzhōu chǎomǐ  ―  Singapore-style noodles

   雪菜火鴨絲炆米 [Cantonese, trad.]
   雪菜火鸭丝炆米 [Cantonese, simp.]

   syut³ coi³ fo² aap³ si¹ man¹ mai⁵

   braised rice vermicelli with pickled mustard and shredded roast duck

5. (Cantonese, Shanghainese, slang) money

   有米 [Cantonese]  ―  jau⁵ mai⁵   ―  rich

   背米 [Shanghainese]  ―  ⁵pe ⁶mi [Wugniu]  ―  to earn money

6. (Shanghainese, slang) ten thousand of a currency designation; ten grand (Classifier: 粒 w)
7. a surname

   米芾  ―  Mǐ Fú  ―  Mi Fu (Song artist)

Synonyms

Compounds

Etymology 2

Short for 米突 (mǐtū), from English metre.

Pronunciation

Definitions

米

1. metre

   米三 [Teochew]  ―  bhi² san¹ [Peng'im]  ―  1.3 metres

   我有一米九高。  ―  Wǒ yǒu yī mǐ jiǔ gāo.  ―  I'm 1.9 metres tall.

   • 只是微小的光　照不亮一米的地方 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     From: 2020, 曹楊 (Cáoyáng) (Young), 微光 (Glimmer)

     zhǐshì wēixiǎo de guāng, zhào bù liàng yī mǐ de dìfāng

     am just a tiny light; cannot brighten up an area within a metre.

Synonyms

Compounds

See also

• (unit of length): 丈 (zhàng), 尺 (chǐ), 寸 (cùn), 分 (fēn)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Definitions

米

1. Only used in 米魯／米鲁.

References

• “米”, 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–
• “Entry #2599”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. rice
2. (ateji) meter
3. (ateji) America
4. (ateji) United States

Readings

• Go-on: まい (mai, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: べい (bei, Jōyō)
• Kan’yō-on: め (me)
• Kun: こめ (kome, 米, Jōyō); めめ (meme, 米); よね (yone, 米); メートル (mētoru, 米)
• Nanori: こん (kon); たから (takara); めい (mei)

Compounds

Etymology 1

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

米

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Rice

Wikipedia

⟨ko₂me₂⟩ → */kəməj/ → /kome/

From Old Japanese. First appears in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE, with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling 渠梅. In turn, from Proto-Japonic *kəmay.

Many theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation:

• Perhaps from 籠め (​kome), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 籠める (komeru, “do with one's heart”), from the way rice is farmed. The accent of kome in the Heian period is <LL>, while kome- in the Heian period is <L->. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
• Possibly cognate with Proto-Vietic *kəːm (“cooked rice”), modern cơm. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
• Possibly cognate with Proto-Austronesian *Semay and Old Chinese 糜 (OC *mral). However, this is extremely speculative; none of the known derivations from Proto-Austronesian *Semay develop initial /k/, nor is this shift explainable by any known mechanism within Japonic.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こめ​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

米(こめ) • (kome) 

1. rice (husked grains of the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa), one of the five grains

   Hypernym: 五穀 (gokoku)

Derived terms

Proverbs

Coordinate terms

• 五(ご)穀(こく) (gokoku, “five grains”): 米(こめ) (kome, “rice”), 麦(むぎ) (mugi, “wheat”), 粟(あわ) (awa, “foxtail millet”), 黍(きび) (kibi, “proso millet”), 豆(まめ) (mame, “soybeans”)

See also

• 飯(いい) (ii, “cooked grains”)
• 稲(イネ) (ine, “rice plant”)
• ご飯(はん) (gohan, “cooked rice”)
• ライス (raisu)

Proper noun

米(こめ) • (Kome) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

Etymology 2

⟨yo₂nai⟩ → */jənai/ → */jəne/ → /jone/

First attested in the Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE).

Possibly from Proto-Japonic *jənaC- (Vovin, 1998) and related to 稲 (ine, “rice plant”).

Unknown "-C-" consonantal segment, reconstructed by Vovin, seems unlikely considering vowel alternation, seen in bound form yona- and free form yone:

Compare 藍 (awi → ai, “indigo”) from 青 (awo → ao, “blue”) + い (i, emphatic nominative particle(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)) against 白い /siroi/ from ⟨siro₁ki₁⟩.

The colloquial sense is derived from the components of the 米 kanji: 八 (hachi, “eight”) + 十 (jū, “ten”) + 八 (hachi, “eight”).

Noun

米(よね) • (yone) 

1. the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa

   Synonym: 稲 (ine)

2. rice (husked grains of the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa)
3. (colloquial) an eighty-eight-year-old

   Synonym: 米寿 (beiju)

Derived terms

Proper noun

米(よね) • (Yone) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

Etymology 3

Probably a shortened reduplication of kome (see above). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

First cited to a work from 1275.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

米(めめ) • (meme) 

1. (colloquial) rice (husked grains of the rice plant)

Etymology 4

Borrowing from French mètre.

The use of this kanji is attested in the Meiji period and is an example of ateji (当て字), shortened from Mandarin 米突 (mǐtū), see Chinese section above.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) メートル (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

米(メートル) • (mētoru) 

1. Rare spelling of メートル (mētoru): metre (SI unit of length)
2. Rare spelling of メーター (mētā): meter (a device or implement used for measurement)

Coordinate terms

• 瓦(グラム) (guramu, “gram”)
• 立(リットル) (rittoru, “litre”)

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 5

From Middle Chinese 米 (MC mejX).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Affix

米(べい) • (bei) ^{←べい (bei)?}

1. rice

   米価(べいか) (beika, “rice price”)

2. Short for アメリカ合衆国／亜米利加合衆国 (Amerika Gasshūkoku, “United States (a country)”).

   米国(べいこく) (Beikoku, “US”)

   日米関係(にちべいかんけい) (Nichi-Bei kankei, “Japan–United States relations”)

3. Short for アメリカ／亜米利加 (Amerika, “the Americas (a region)”).

   南米(なんべい) (Nanbei, “South America”)

References