수

Korean

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 手 (“hand, way”), from the Middle Korean reading 슈〮 (Yale: syú). However, the dependent noun is usually not written in hanja.

The word somewhat displaced the native dependent noun 줄 (jul, “fact, ability”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):

  • (file)

• Phonetic hangul:

Dependent noun

수 • (su) (usually no hanja; sometimes 手)

1. (after verbal or adjectival adnominals) way, means, possibility, ability; used to express ability, in constructions equivalent to the English modal "can"

   그러는 수밖에 없겠네.

   Geureoneun subakke eopgenne.

   I suppose that's all you can do.

   (literally, “ there is no way but to do that.”)

   움직일 수가 없다.

   Umjigil su-ga eopda.

   I can't move.

   (literally, “I lack the ability to move.”)

   중국을 갔을 수도 있어요.

   Junggug-eul gasseul su-do isseo-yo.

   He might have gone to China as well.

   (literally, “There is also the possibility that he went to China.”)

Usage notes

• Some speakers mistakenly believe that the element 수 (su) in the suffix 을수록 (eulsurok, “the more...”) is this dependent noun, but in reality this is a reflex of Middle Korean ᄉᆞ (Yale: so).

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 手)

1. (board games) move

   한 수만 더 두면 외통수다.

   Han su-man deo dumyeon oetongsuda.

   Just one more move, and it's checkmate.

2. (originally board games, also figurative) ability, talent, skill

   최소한 영어는 내가 걔보단 한 수 위야.

   Choesohan yeong'eo-neun nae-ga gyaebodan han su wi-ya.

   At the very least, my skill in English is a notch better than hers.

Suffix

—수 • (-su) (hanja 手)

1. -er; -ist

Derived terms

• 꼼수 (kkomsu)
• 외통수 (oetongsu)
• See the hanja entry at 手 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (手, su).

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 數 (“number”), from the Middle Korean reading 수〯 (Yale: swǔ).

Pronunciation

• (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: 수의 / 수에 / 수까지

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

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 數)

1. number

   Synonyms: 숫자 (sutja), 개수 (gaesu)

2. (less common) destiny, fate (especially a favorable one)

   Synonym: 운수(運數) (unsu)

Determiner

수 • (su) (hanja 數)

1. a few, several

   수 킬로미터 ― su killomiteo ― several kilometers

   수십 명 ― susip myeong ― several tens of people

Usage notes

When used before a numeral, this word is not spaced.

Derived terms

• 수없다 (sueopda, “to be countless”)
• 수없이 (sueopsi, “countlessly”)
• See the hanja entry at 數 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (數, su).

Etymology 3

First attested in the Bullyu dugongbu si eonhae (分類杜工部詩諺解 / 분류두공부시언해), 1481, as Middle Korean 숳〮 (Yale: swúh).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):

  • (file)

• Phonetic hangul:

Noun

수 • (su)

1. (uncommon, usually used as a prefix) male (non-human)

   Synonym: (much more common) 수컷 (sukeot)

   Antonym: 암 (am, “female”)

Prefix

수— • (su-)

1. male (non-human)

   Antonym: 암 (am, “female”)

2. (of objects that fit together) protruding

   Antonym: 암 (am, “concave, curving inwards”)

Usage notes

As the relic of the Middle Korean coda /-h/ now lost in Modern Korean, the prefix usually aspirates a subsequent plosive.

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Sino-Korean word from 水 (“water”), from the Middle Korean reading 슈〮 (Yale: syú).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):

  • (file)

• Phonetic hangul:

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 水)

1. water, as one of the Five Phases of East Asian cosmology

   Synonym: (in general) 물 (mul, “water”)

   Hypernym: 오행(五行) (ohaeng, “Five Phases”)

   Coordinate terms: 목(木) (mok, “tree”), 화(火) (hwa, “fire”), 토(土) (to, “earth”), 금(金) (geum, “metal”)

2. Short for 수요일(水曜日) (suyoil): Wednesday

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 水 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (水, su).

Etymology 5

Sino-Korean word from 繡 (“embroidering”), from the Middle Korean reading 슈〯 (Yale: syǔ).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 繡)

1. embroidering (in cloth)

   Synonym: 자수(刺繡) (jasu)

   비단에 수를 놓다 ― bidan-e su-reul nota ― to embroider silk

Derived terms

• 수(繡)를 놓다 (su-reul nota)
• See the hanja entry at 繡 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (繡, su).

Etymology 6

Sino-Korean word from 首 (“head”), from the Middle Korean reading 슈〮 (Yale: syú).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):

  • (file)

• Phonetic hangul:

Counter

수 • (su) (hanja 首)

1. A counter for poems.
2. (formal) A counter for animals.

   Synonym: (more common) 마리 (mari)

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 首 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (首, su).

Etymology 7

Sino-Korean word from 受 (“accept”), from the Middle Korean reading 슈 (Yale: syù).

The sense of "bottom" is orthographic borrowing from Japanese 受け (uke).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):

  • (file)

• Phonetic hangul:

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 受)

1. (Buddhism, philosophy) vedanā (sensation in Buddhist philosophy)
2. (slang) bottom (in a gay sexual relationship)

   Synonym: 바텀 (bateom)

   Antonym: 공(攻) (gong)

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 受 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (受, su).

Etymology 8

Sino-Korean word from 髓 (“bone marrow”), from the Middle Korean reading 슈〯 (Yale: syǔ).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 髓)

1. (logging) pith (of wood)

   Synonym: 수심(樹心) (susim)

2. (uncommon) bone marrow

   Synonym: 골수(骨髓) (golsu)

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 髓 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (髓, su).

Etymology 9

Sino-Korean word from 隋 (“the Sui”).

Pronunciation

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

Proper noun

수 • (Su) (hanja 隋)

1. (formal, academic) the Sui, a short-lived Chinese dynasty

   Synonym: 수나라 (Sunara, “the Sui”, usual non-academic term)

Usage notes

As with all historical Chinese polities with a single-character name, the Sui are usually referred to with the suffix 나라 (nara, “nation, country”) as 수나라 (Sunara, “the Sui country”) outside of academia.

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 隋 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (隋, su).

Etymology 10

Sino-Korean word from 守 (“defend”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

수 • (su) (hanja 守)

1. (historical) From the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, two government offices both belonging to the 정사품(正四品) (jeongsapum, “upper degree of the fourth rank of government”):
   1. An office supervising court food supplies
   2. An honorary office given to distant royal relatives

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 守 for Sino-Korean compounds of 수 (守, su).

Etymology 11

Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

Syllable

수 (su)

References

• Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea (대한민국 대법원, Daehanmin'guk Daebeobwon) (2018). Table of hanja for personal names (인명용 한자표 / 人名用漢字表, Inmyeong-yong hanja-pyo).