光

Stroke order

光 (Kangxi radical 10, 儿+4, 6 strokes, cangjie input 火一山 (FMU), four-corner 9021₁, composition ⿱⺌兀)

• 侊, 𢓥, 垙, 挄, 咣, 洸, 恍, 姯, 𭘜, 㹰, 𨒺, 珖, 桄, 𤈛, 晄, 𥙑, 胱, 㿠, 𥆄, 硄, 絖, 𦨻, 𧧯, 𧵦, 輄(𨐈), 𨠵, 觥, 靗, 銧, 𩊠, 皝, 駫, 䯑
• 𰃌, 𣆥, 𠒦, 𠒥, 𠒬, 尡, 䆪, 韑, 𤾗, 輝(辉), 𠓇, 𪀯, 𠓁, 𦒉, 𠓅, 黋, 㒯, 𠓐, 耀, 兤, 𠓑, 𧹍
• 𣆤, 茪, 晃, 𰃍, 䨔, 𢩊, 𤶏, 㘢, 𡾡

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 124, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1350
• Dae Jaweon: page 262, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 266, character 7
• Unihan data for U+5149

Historical forms of the character 光
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script j23048 j23049 j23050 j23051 j23052 j23053 j23054 j23055 j23056 j23057 j23058 j23059 j23060 j23061 j23062 Bronze inscriptions b14861 b14862 b14863 b14864 b14865 b14866 b14867 b14868 b14869 b14870 b14871 b14872 b14873 b14874 b14875 b14876 b14877 b14878 b14879 b14880 b14881 b14882 Small seal script s07367 Transcribed ancient scripts L32956 L32957 L32958 L32959 L32960 L32961 L32962 L10093 L10094 L10095 L10096 L10097 L10098 L10099 L10100 L10101 L10102 L10103 L10104 L10105 L10106 L10107 L10108 L10109 L10110 L10111 L10112 L10113
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 火 (“fire”) + 卩 (“kneeling person”) – fire over a person's head, emphasizing the shining of light (Shuowen).

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hwaŋ (“shine; bright; yellow”). Cognate with 黃 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “yellow”), 曠 (OC *kʰʷaːŋs, “bright; well-lit”), Burmese ဝင်း (wang:, “bright”).

光

1. light; beam; ray (Classifier: 束 m; 道 m)

   燈光／灯光  ―  dēngguāng  ―  lamplight

   聚光燈／聚光灯  ―  jùguāngdēng  ―  spotlight

   一束光透過門縫射進來。 [MSC, trad.]
   一束光透过门缝射进来。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yī shù guāng tòuguò ménféng shè jìnlái.

   A beam of light shone through the door.

   1. (specifically, physics) ray (Classifier: 條／条)
2. to make bare; to be naked

   光著腳走路／光着脚走路  ―  guāngzhe jiǎo zǒulù  ―  to walk barefoot

   我光著呢。／我光着呢。  ―  Wǒ guāngzhe ne.  ―  I'm not decent.

   褪光光 [Hokkien]  ―  thǹg-kng-kng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  to be naked; to be in the nude

3. only; alone

   別光吃肉，吃點蔬菜吧。 [MSC, trad.]
   别光吃肉，吃点蔬菜吧。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bié guāng chī ròu, chī diǎn shūcài ba.

   Don't eat only meat. Eat some vegetables.

4. Particle used after verbs to show exhaustion or completion; until none is left

   賣光了／卖光了  ―  mài guāng le  ―  completely sold out

   我已經用光了所有的錢。 [MSC, trad.]
   我已经用光了所有的钱。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ yǐjīng yòngguāng le suǒyǒu de qián.

   I've already used up all of my money.

   你毋通將錢用甲光光。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   你毋通将钱用甲光光。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Lí m̄-thang chiong chîⁿ ēng kah kng kng. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   Don't completely used up the money.

5. scenery; sight

   風光／风光  ―  fēngguāng  ―  landscape

6. glory; pride; honor

   臺灣之光／台湾之光  ―  Táiwān zhī guāng  ―  the pride of Taiwan; someone who has brought glory to Taiwan

7. time

   光陰／光阴  ―  guāngyīn  ―  the limited time available in a person's life

   時光／时光  ―  shíguāng  ―  the inevitable passing of events from future to present then past

8. bright

   光明  ―  guāngmíng  ―  bright; shining

   呢度好光。 [Cantonese]  ―  ni¹ dou⁶ hou² gwong¹.   ―  It's very bright here.

   這間房間真光。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   这间房间真光。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Chit keng pâng-keng chin kng. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   This room is very bright.

9. brightness; luster

   光澤／光泽  ―  guāngzé  ―  luster; gloss; sheen

10. smooth; glossy; polished; shiny; sleek

    光滑  ―  guānghuá  ―  smooth; glossy; sleek

    石頭磨甲真光。 [Hokkien, trad.]
    石头磨甲真光。 [Hokkien, simp.]

    Chio̍h-thâu bôa kah chin kng. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

    The stone is polished smooth.

11. (figurative) advantage; benefit; goodness

    沾光  ―  zhānguāng  ―  to benefit from an association with someone

12. to add honor to; to win honor for; to add luster on

    光宗耀祖  ―  guāngzōngyàozǔ  ―  to bring honour to one's ancestors and clan

13. (literary) to glorify; to bring honor to; to exalt; to make conspicuous
14. Used in polite expressions.

    光臨／光临  ―  guānglín  ―  presence (polite)

    光顧／光顾  ―  guānggù  ―  to visit; to come; to patronize

15. (Hokkien) to become bright; to brighten

    天光囉。／天光啰。 [Hokkien]  ―  Thian kng lô. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  The sky has become bright.

16. a surname

• (light):

• (ray (physics)): 射線／射线 (shèxiàn)
• (bright):

• (antonym(s) of “bright”): 暗 (àn), 黑 (hēi)

光

1. ^‡ to color

• “光”, 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–
• “Entry #2065”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←くわう (kwau, historical)}
• Kan-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←くわう (kwau, historical)}
• Kun: ひかり (hikari, 光, Jōyō)、ひかる (hikaru, 光る, Jōyō)
• Nanori: あき (aki)、あきら (akira)、てる (teru)、ひこ (hiko)、み (mi)、みつ (mitsu)

• 竹光(たけみつ) (takemitsu)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

光

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Light

Wikipedia

⟨pi₁kari⟩ → */pʲikari/ → /ɸikari/ → /hikari/

From Old Japanese.

Nominalization of the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 光る (hikaru, “to shine, to glitter, to gleam”).^[1][2]

• (Tokyo) ひかり (Odaka – )^[3][2]
• IPA^(key):

光(ひかり) • (hikari)  (counter 筋)

1. a physically perceived light:
   1. a light, beam, illumination
   2. a gleam, glow, ray
   3. a glimmer, shine, sparkle

      ダイヤモンドの光(ひかり)

      daiyamondo no hikari

      a diamond's glitter / shine / twinkling

   4. a luster/lustre, polish, sheen
2. a metaphorical light:
   1. glory, influence, power
   2. a glimmer, gleam

      前(ぜん)途(と)に光(ひかり)を失(うしな)う

      zento ni hikari o ushinau

      to lose light regarding the future → future prospects grow dim

      解(かい)決(けつ)への道(みち)に光(ひかり)を投(な)げかける

      kaiketsu e no michi ni hikari o nagekakeru

      to shed light on the way to a solution

   3. positive aspect

      インターネット時(じ)代(だい)の光(ひかり)

      intānetto jidai no hikari

      the positive aspect of the internet age

   4. a displaying, putting on airs
   5. a vision, eyesight
3. (optics) relating to light or vision: optical, photo-

   光(ひかり)ファイバー

   hikari faibā

   optical fiber

4. (colloquial) Short for 光り物 (hikarimono): sashimi with some of the silver-colored skin left