김

First attested in the nineteenth century. Perhaps ultimately related to the "weed" sense below, but this is speculative.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 김의 / 김에 / 김까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes low pitch, and heightens the pitch of two subsequent suffixed syllables.

김 • (gim)

1. laver (nori, a type of edible seaweed in the genus Porphyra)

   Synonyms: (rare) 해태(海苔) (haetae), (chiefly dialectal) 해의(海衣) (hae'ui)

First attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean 김〯 (Yale: kǐm).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 김의 / 김에 / 김까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes low pitch, and heightens the pitch of two subsequent suffixed syllables.

김 • (gim)

1. steam; vapor

   Synonyms: 증기(蒸氣) (jeunggi, “vapour”), 수증기(水蒸氣) (sujeunggi, “steam”)

Of native Korean origin.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

김 • (gim)

1. since, given that, seeing as; only used in 은 김에 (-eun gime) and 는 김에 (-neun gime)

First attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean 기ᅀᅳᆷ〮 (Yale: kìzúm), originally equivalent to 기ᇫ (Yale: kìz-, “to be lush, to be verdant (of plant growth)”) + 음〮 (Yale: -úm, substantive-deriving suffix).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

김 • (gim)

1. weed in fields or rice paddies, which must be uprooted

Sino-Korean word from 金 (“gold; metal”). This reading is found only in the surname and certain place names. Orthodox Sino-Korean is 금 (金, geum).

Most likely a borrowing from Early Mandarin 金 (EM *kim) during Mongol rule in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

김 • (Gim) (hanja 金)

1. a surname, Kim (most common surname in Korea)

   김연아 (金姸兒) ― Gim Yeon-a ― Yuna Kim

   김정은 (金正恩) ― Gim Jeong-eun ― Kim Jong-un

   김대중 (金大中) ― Gim Daejung ― Kim Dae-jung

• English: Kim, Gim
• Ukrainian: Кім (Kim)