불

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불 U+BD88, 불
HANGUL SYLLABLE BUL
Composition:ㅂ + ㅜ + ㄹ
← 붇
 		Hangul Syllables 붉 →
부북붂붃분붅붆
붇불붉붊붋붌붍
붎붏붐붑붒붓붔
붕붖붗붘붙붚붛
뵤 ←→ 붜

Korean

Etymology 1

First attested in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사), 1103, as Late Old Korean 孛.

Possibly cognate with Old Japanese 火 (pi2) (< Proto-Japonic *poy), as well as compounding form 火 (po) and eastern Old Japanese 火 (pu). Compare Middle Korean 븕다〮 (Yale: pùlk-tá, “to be red”, whence modern 붉다 (bukda)), which is believed to be derived from the word at some earlier stage of the language (Lee and Ramsey 2011, p. 180). Displaced Sino-Korean 火 (“fire”), which was reworked to mean "rage" (화 (hwa)).

In the hangul script, first attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 블〮 (Yale: púl).

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?bul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?bul
McCune–Reischauer?pul
Yale Romanization?pul

Noun

불 • (bul)

  1. (also figuratively) fire; flame
  2. fire (as a disaster)
    Synonym: 화재(火災) (hwajae)
  3. (electric) light
Derived terms

Prefix

불— • (bul-)

  1. severe; intense
Derived terms

Etymology 2

First attested in the Jeongsok eonhae (正俗諺解 / 정속언해 (of 李源周敎授本 / 이원주 교수본)), 1518, as Middle Korean 불 (Yale: pwul).

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?bul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?bul
McCune–Reischauer?pul
Yale Romanization?pul

Noun

불 • (bul) (colloquial, uncommon or fossilized)

  1. genitalia
  2. testicle
    Synonyms: 불알 (bural), (non-colloquial) 고환(睾丸) (gohwan)
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 佛.

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?bul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?bul
McCune–Reischauer?pul
Yale Romanization?pul

Proper noun

불 • (Bul) (hanja 佛)

  1. short for 불란서(佛蘭西) (Bullanseo, “France”)
    한·불 관계 ― Han·bul gwan'gye ― France-South Korea relations
Usage notes
  • In news headlines, this is customarily written solely in the hanja form, even in contemporary Korean texts otherwise devoid of Chinese characters.
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Sino-Korean word from 弗. Repurposed for its visual similarity to the dollar symbol $.

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?bul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?bul
McCune–Reischauer?pul
Yale Romanization?pul

Counter

불 • (bul) (hanja 弗)

  1. dollar (of various countries)
    Synonym: 달러 (dalleo)
Derived terms

Etymology 5

Sino-Korean word from 不.

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?bul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?bul
McCune–Reischauer?pul
Yale Romanization?pul

Prefix

불— • (bul-) (hanja 不)

  1. not; non-, un-, in-
    ‎불(不) (bul) + ‎가능(可能) (ganeung, “possibility”) → ‎불가능(不可能) (bulganeung, “impossibility”)
Alternative forms
Derived terms

Etymology 6

Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

Syllable

불 • (bul)

More information
  1. 不:
    (MC reading: 不 (MC pjut))
  2. 佛:
    (MC reading: 佛 (MC bjut))
  3. 拂:
    (MC reading: 拂 (MC phjut))
  4. 彿:
    (MC reading: 彿 (MC phjut))
  5. 弗:
    (MC reading: 弗 (MC pjut))
  6. 岪:
    (MC reading: 岪)
  7. 祓:
    (MC reading: 祓 (MC phjut))
  8. 紱:
    (MC reading: 紱 (MC pjut))
  9. 艴:
    (MC reading: 艴 (MC phjut))
  10. 茀:
    (MC reading: 茀 (MC phjut))
  11. 韍:
    (MC reading: 韍 (MC pjut))
  12. 髴:
    (MC reading: 髴 (MC pjut|phjut))
  13. 黻:
    (MC reading: 黻 (MC pjut))
  14. 冹:
    (MC reading: 冹 (MC pjut))
  15. 刜:
    (MC reading: 刜 (MC bjut|phjut))
  16. 咈:
    (MC reading: 咈 (MC bjut))
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