기우

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Korean

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?giu
Revised Romanization (translit.)?giu
McCune–Reischauer?kiu
Yale Romanization?kiwu

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 杞憂, from (ancient kingdom of Qi) + (worry, concern): "the worry of the man from Qi". From a story in the Chinese classic Liezi, early first millennium, "Heaven's Gifts", adapted from the translation by A. C. Graham:

天地崩墜寢食:「積氣屈伸呼吸終日行止奈何崩墜?」
天地崩坠寝食:「积气屈伸呼吸终日行止奈何崩坠?」
From: Liezi, 1st – 5th century CE
guó yǒu rén, yōu tiāndì bēngzhuì, shēn wáng suǒ jì, fèi qǐnshí zhě. Yòu yǒu yōu bǐ zhī suǒ yōu zhě, yīn wǎng xiǎo zhī, yuē: “Tiān, jīqì ěr, wáng chù wáng qì. Ruò qūshēn hūxī, zhōngrì zài tiān zhōng xíngzhǐ, nàihé yōu bēngzhuì hū?”
There was a man of Qi country who was so worried that heaven and earth might fall down, and his body would have nowhere to lodge, that he forgot to eat and sleep. There was another man who was worried that he should be so worried about it, and therefore went to enlighten him, saying, "Heaven is nothing but the accumulated air; there is no place where there is not air. You walk and stand all day inside heaven, stretching and bending, breathing in and breathing out; why should you worry about it falling down?"

Noun

기우 (giu) (hanja 杞憂)

  1. groundless worry; unfounded worry
    모든 타인 자신 워한다는 기우 시달린다.
    Geu-neun modeun tain-i jasin-eul miwohandaneun giu-e sidallinda.
    He suffers from unfounded worries that all other people hate him.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 祈雨, from (to pray) + (rain).

Noun

기우 (giu) (hanja 祈雨)

  1. praying for rain
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 奇遇, from (strange) + (encounter).

Noun

기우 (giu) (hanja 奇遇)

  1. (literary) unexpected encounter; fortuitous meeting (between people)