強

強 (Kangxi radical 57, 弓+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈中戈 (NILI), four-corner 1323₆, composition ⿰弓𧈧 or ⿸弘虫)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 359, character 23
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9815
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 999, character 7
• Unihan data for U+5F37

Historical forms of the character 強
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Zhengzhang (2003): Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɡaŋ, *ɡaŋʔ): phonetic 彊 (OC *kaŋs, *ɡaŋ, *ɡaŋʔ) + semantic 虫 (“insect”), hence a rather conservative variant is 𧖑.

Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɡaŋ, *ɡaŋʔ): phonetic 弘 (OC *ɡʷɯːŋ) + semantic 虫 (“insect”).

The character 強 likely originally referred to the rice weevil, an insect that attacks rice and several other crops, before being phonetically borrowed to represent the sense of "strong; powerful", which was previously represented by the character 彊 (OC *kaŋs, *ɡaŋ, *ɡaŋʔ).

(egg): Typo of 蛋; they have the same keystrokes in Simplified Cangjie.

強

1. strong; powerful; energetic
2. to strengthen
3. staunch; strong-willed
4. brutal; forceful

   強拖乘客下機／强拖乘客下机  ―  qiángtuō chéngkè xiàjī  ―  to forcefully drag a passenger off the plane

5. capable; of a high level
6. superior; better
7. slightly more than; plus

   四分之一強／四分之一强  ―  sì fēnzhī yī qiáng  ―  a bit more than a fourth

   • 束緼宵行十里强，挑得詩囊，抛了衣囊。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     束缊宵行十里强，挑得诗囊，抛了衣囊。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 1239, Liu Kezhuang（劉克莊）,一剪梅•余赴廣東實之夜餞於風亭

     Shù yùn xiāo xíng shílǐ qiáng, tiǎo dé shī náng, pāo le yī náng.

     With burning hemps, I walked for more than ten li.
     Carrying on my shoulders a bundle of poetry books,
     And the parcel of garments I threw into brooks.

8. final contestants in a competition; finalist

   八強／八强  ―  bāqiáng  ―  quarterfinals

9. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, sometimes deliberate) Misspelling of 蛋 (dàn).

• (strong): (literary) 鴻／鸿 (hóng)

• 弱 (ruò)

強

1. to force; to compel; to coerce

   勉強／勉强  ―  miǎnqiǎng  ―  to force somebody to do something

2. to strive

強

1. ^† hard; stiff
2. stubborn; obstinate
3. a surname

• “強”, 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–

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. strong

   Antonym: 弱

2. strength
3. powerful
4. potent

• Go-on: ごう (gō, Jōyō)^{←がう (gau, historical)}
• Kan-on: きょう (kyō, Jōyō)^{←きやう (kyau, historical)}
• Tō-on: がん (gan)
• Kun: つよい (tsuyoi, 強い, Jōyō)、つよまる (tsuyomaru, 強まる, Jōyō)、つよめる (tsuyomeru, 強める, Jōyō)、しいる (shiiru, 強いる, Jōyō)^{←しひる (sifiru, 強ひる, historical)}、こわい (kowai, 強い)、あながち (anagachi, 強ち)、したたか (shitataka, 強か)、つとめる (tsutomeru, 強める)

(as a noun)

• (Tokyo) きょー (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

強(きょう) • (kyō) 

1. strength

強(きょう) • (-kyō) 

1. (lengths of time) slightly more than

• 弱(じゃく) (-jaku)

• IPA^(key):

強(つよし) • (Tsuyoshi) 

1. a male given name

• 强

From Middle Chinese 強 (MC gjang, “strong”).

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

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

強

Wikisource

強 (eumhun 강할 강 (ganghal gang))

1. hanja form^? of 강 (“strong; strength”)

   Antonym: 弱 (약 (yak))

From Middle Chinese 強 (MC gjangX, “make an effort”).

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

強 (eumhun 힘쓸 강 (himsseul gang))

1. hanja form^? of 강 (“to force; to coerce”)
2. hanja form^? of 강 (“stubborn; obstinate”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

強: Hán Việt readings: cường, cưỡng
強: Nôm readings: càng, cượng, cướng, gắng, cường, gàn, ngượng, cưỡng, gương, gượng, gàng

• 強國 (cường quốc)

強 • (càng)

1. chữ Nôm form of càng (“With a comparative or verb phrase, establishes a parallel with one or more other such comparatives.; all the more, all the less”).
   • 18th–19th century, Hồ Xuân Hương (胡春香), Vịnh quạt (詠𦑗) [The Paper Fan]:

     強(càng)燶(nóng)包(bao)饒(nhiêu)辰(thời)強(càng)沫(mát)/要(yêu)店(đêm)諸(chưa)斐(phỉ)吏(lại)要(yêu)𣈜(ngày)

     The hotter you get, the more refreshing you get / It wasn’t enough to love at night, now we love during the day.

• Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)
• Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
• Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
• Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm, NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999