胡

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

胡 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 十口月 (JRB), four-corner 4762₀, composition ⿰古月(GJKV) or ⿰古⺼(HT))

Derived characters

• 𪝍, 㗅, 𡎁, 媩, 𢰮, 湖, 猢, 楜, 煳, 瑚, 𥔓, 𧛞, 糊, 蝴, 䠒, 醐, 鍸, 䩴, 餬(𫗫), 鰗(𬶞), 𪍒(𱋟), 𪐉, 𪕱
• 𤭱, 𮍂, 鶘(鹕), 𪕮, 葫, 箶, 鬍, 𢉢, 㾰, 𡹹, 𧍵, 𨡷, 𩀉, 䭌, 鶦(𫛷), 衚, 𧛫, 𮠐

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 979, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29400
• Dae Jaweon: page 1431, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2056, character 8
• Unihan data for U+80E1

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaː) : phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ) + semantic ⺼.

Etymology 1

"dewlap"

A derivative is 鬍 (“beard”) (Schuessler, 2007).

"steppe nomads"

Etymology unknown (Schuessler, 2007).

interrogative word ("what; why; how")

Cognate with 何 (OC *ɡaːl, “what; where; why; how”), Tibetan ག་ན (ga na, “where; how”), Tibetan ག་རུ (ga ru, “to where”) (Schuessler, 2007). See 何 (hé) for more.

Pronunciation

Definitions

胡

1. (obsolete) wattle; dewlap (fleshy lobe hanging from the head or neck of animals)

   • 狼跋其胡，載疐其尾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     狼跋其胡，载疐其尾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Láng bá qí hú, zǎi zhì qí wěi.

     The wolf springs forward on his dewlap, or trips back on his tail.

2. (obsolete) wattle-like object, such as pendent parts on implements
3. (literary) how; why; what

   • 胡能有定？寧不我顧。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     胡能有定？宁不我顾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Hú néng yǒu dìng? Níng bù wǒ gù.

     How can he get his mind settled? Would he then not regard me?

   • 式微，式微！胡不歸？ [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     式微，式微！胡不归？ [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Shìwēi, shìwēi! Hú bù guī?

     Reduced! Reduced! Why not return?

   • 然胡不嘗考之聖王之事？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     然胡不尝考之圣王之事？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mozi, c. 4^th century BCE

     Rán hú bù cháng kǎo zhī shèngwáng zhī shì?

     Again, why not let us inquire into the deeds of the sage-kings?

4. (historical) barbarian; a generic term for any non-Han peoples who lived to the north and west of China's borders

   胡人  ―  húrén  ―  foreigner

   • 胡之無弓車也，非無弓車也，夫人而能為弓車也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     胡之无弓车也，非无弓车也，夫人而能为弓车也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Rites of Zhou, circa 3^rd century BCE

     Hú zhī wú gōngchē yě, fēi wú gōngchē yě, fú rén ér néng wéi gōngchē yě.

     If one says the Hu / neighbouring peoples have no artificers who are specialised in making bows and carriages, it does not mean there are no bows and carriages; on the contrary, every workman is able to manufacture bows and carriages.

5. (historical) countries and peoples in the Western Regions, including Persia, Daqin, and in Pre-Tang texts, India
6. (by extension) introduced from the northern or western non-Han peoples or from abroad; non-Chinese; foreign; imported

   胡桃  ―  hútáo  ―  walnut

   胡蘿蔔／胡萝卜  ―  húluóbo  ―  carrot

7. Short for 胡琴 (húqín, “huqin; general term for two-stringed bowed instruments with origins in the western non-Han peoples”).

   二胡  ―  èrhú  ―  erhu

   板胡  ―  bǎnhú  ―  banhu

8. (historical) (～國) State of Hu in the Spring and Autumn Period in modern-day Anhui, conquered by the State of Chu in 496 BCE
9. (obsolete) black; dark-skinned
10. (obsolete) far; great; senior
11. outrageously; recklessly; wildly; foolishly

    胡說／胡说  ―  húshuō  ―  to talk nonsense

    胡搞  ―  húgǎo  ―  to mess around

12. a surname

    胡錦濤／胡锦涛  ―  Hú Jǐntāo  ―  Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 2002 to 2012

Synonyms

• (why):

• (barbarian): 番 (fān)

Descendants

• → English: Hu, Hoo, Wu, Woo, Oh

Compounds

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

Etymology 6

Etymology 7

References

• “胡”, 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

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Readings

• Go-on: ぐ (gu); ご (go)
• Kan-on: こ (ko)
• Tō-on: う (u)
• Kun: えびす (ebisu, 胡); なんぞ (nanzo, 胡ぞ)

Compounds

Korean

Hanja

胡 • (ho) (hangeul 호, revised ho, McCune–Reischauer ho, Yale ho)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

胡: Hán Nôm readings: hồ, hò, ha

1. chữ Hán form of Hồ (“a surname”).

   胡春香 ― Hồ Xuân Hương