後

Stroke order

後 (Kangxi radical 60, 彳+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 竹人女戈水 (HOVIE), four-corner 2224₇, composition ⿰彳⿱幺夊)

• 䵈, 𠷴, 𢖕/𢖖

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 366, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10098
• Dae Jaweon: page 688, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 822, character 3
• Unihan data for U+5F8C

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 後姓 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• Hō͘ (chhek-pêng) (Southern Min)

Historical forms of the character 後
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

In oracle bone script, ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 幺 (“thread”) + 夊 (“foot”) – a foot bound by a rope, thus lagging behind. The component 彳 was added afterwards to emphasize this action.

Note that the simplified form 后 is also a traditional character on its own, with a different meaning.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hwak (“below”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan འོག ('og, “below”), Burmese အောက် (auk, “under; below”), Burmese နောက် (nauk, “behind”) (from Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔok (“lower side; below”)).

後

1. behind; rear; back

   後院／后院  ―  hòuyuàn  ―  backyard

   背後／背后  ―  bèihòu  ―  behind

   Antonym: 前 (qián)

2. later; after; afterwards

   以後／以后  ―  yǐhòu  ―  after

   然後／然后  ―  ránhòu  ―  after, afterwards

   畢業後／毕业后  ―  bìyè hòu  ―  after graduation

   三天後／三天后  ―  sān tiān hòu  ―  after three days

3. last

   後五名／后五名  ―  hòu wǔ míng  ―  the last five

4. descendants; offsprings

   無後／无后  ―  wúhòu  ―  to lack male offspring

5. post-
6. (literary) anus

   寧為雞口，無為牛後 [MSC, trad.]
   宁为鸡口，无为牛后 [MSC, simp.]

   níngwèijīkǒu，wúwèiniúhòu

   Better be the beak of a chicken than the anus of an ox (proverb)

7. a surname

• “後”, 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 #4914”, 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.
• Douglas, Carstairs (1873) “後”, in Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, [With 1923 Supplement after the Appendix by Thomas Barclay, Shanghai: Commercial Press, Ltd.] edition (overall work in Hokkien and English), London: Trübner & Co., page 140; New Edition (With Chinese Character Glosses) edition, London: Presbyterian Church of England, 1899, page 140

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. behind, after

• Go-on: ぐ (gu)
• Kan-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)
• Tō-on: ご (go, Jōyō)
• Kun: あと (ato, 後, Jōyō)、うしろ (ushiro, 後ろ, Jōyō)、おくれ (okure, 後)、おくれ (okure, 後れ)、おくれる (okureru, 後れる, Jōyō)、しり (shiri, 後)、しりえ (shirie, 後え)、のち (nochi, 後, Jōyō)、ゆり (yuri, 後)、うわ (uwa, 後)
• Nanori: こし (koshi)、し (shi)、しい (shī)

Originally an extension of 跡(あと) (ato, “footprint; leftover”), itself a compound of 足(あ) (a, “foot”) + 所(と) (to, “place”).^[1][2][3]

• (Tokyo) あと (Atamadaka – )^[2][4]
• IPA^(key):

後(あと) • (ato) 

1. (spatially) the back, the rear, behind

   Synonyms: 後ろ, 後方

   子(こ)犬(いぬ)が後(あと)からついてくる。

   Koinu ga ato kara tsuite kuru.

   The puppy will follow behind.

   (literally, “The puppy will follow from the back.”)

2. (temporally) later time, afterwards, some time after the present

   Synonym: 以後

   後(あと)で連(れん)絡(らく)します。

   Ato de renraku shimasu.

   I'll contact you later.

   会(かい)議(ぎ)の後(あと) ― kaigi no ato ― after the meeting

   1. time after death

      Synonym: 死後

3. (in order) the next person or thing

   Antonym: 先 (saki)

   名(めい)簿(ぼ)の後(あと)の方(かた) ― meibo no ato no kata ― the next one on the roster

   1. instead, in place of

      お後(あと)は何(なに)にしますか。

      O-ato wa nani ni shimasu ka.

      What are you going to do instead?

   2. successor

      Synonyms: 後継者, 後任

   3. descendants, offspring

      Synonyms: 子孫, 後胤

   4. wife of remarriage

      Synonym: 後妻

4. the rest; certain part, space or thing left

   あとは頼(たの)んだぞ。

   Ato wa tanonda zo.

   I leave the rest to you.

   1. memory of the deceased; one's virtue that remains after death

      Synonym: 名残

      祖(そ)父(ふ)の後(あと)をしのぶ

      Sofu no ato o shinobu

      be in memory of Grandfather

後(あと) • (ato) 

1. later, after, from now on

   後(あと)三(さん)分(ぷん)で終(しゅう)了(りょう)します。

   Ato san-pun de shūryō shimasu.

   It will end in three minutes.

   (literally, “It will end three minutes later.”)

後(あと) • (ato) 

1. afterwards, then

   Synonym: それから

   後(あと)、気(き)付(づ)いたことはありませんか。

   Ato, kizuita koto wa arimasen ka.

   Have you ever noticed after that?

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 遅れる (okureru, “to be late; to be delayed; to come after something else”). Examples appear from at least the 1300s.^[1]

More commonly spelled with the okurigana.

Uncommon alternative spelling.

From Old Japanese. Found in the Nihon Shoki of 720, and phonetically as 志利弊 (siripe₁) in the Man'yōshū of 759.^[5]

Compound of 尻 (shiri, “butt, tail, rear”) +‎ 方 (e, “side, facing, way, direction”).

• (Tokyo) しりえ (Odaka – )^[2]
• (Tokyo) しりえ (Heiban – )^[2][4]
• IPA^(key):

後(しりえ) • (shirie) 

1. the rear, back, or backside of something
2. the rearward or backward direction
3. the portion of a palace where a queen or other female imperial consort lives

From Old Japanese. Ultimate derivation unknown.

• (Tokyo) のち (Odaka – )^[2][4]
• (Tokyo) のち (Heiban – )^[2][4]
• IPA^(key):

後(のち) • (nochi) 

1. later, afterwards, some time after the present

   晴(は)れのち雨(あめ)

   hare nochi ame

   rains after sunshine

From Old Japanese. Ultimate derivation unknown. May be cognate with より (yori, “from; after”).

• IPA^(key):

後(ゆり) • (yuri) 

1. (obsolete) later, afterwards, some time after the present

From Middle Chinese 後 (huwX, huwH, “after”).

• (Tokyo) ご (Heiban – )^[2][4]
• IPA^(key):

後(ご) • (go) 

1. later, afterwards, some time after the present

   彼(かれ)は卒業後(そつぎょうご)に結婚(けっこん)します。

   Kare wa sotsugyōgo ni kekkonshimasu.

   He is going to get married after the graduation.

   彼(かれ)は卒業後(そつぎょうご)は大阪(おおさか)の会社(かいしゃ)に勤(つと)めます。

   Kare wa sotsugyōgo wa Ōsaka no kaisha ni tsutomemasu.

   He is going to work for a company in Osaka after the graduation.

   卒業後(そつぎょうご)、彼(かれ)は小学校(しょうがっこう)の先生(せんせい)になった。

   Sotsugyōgo, kare wa shōgakkō no sensei ni natta.

   After the graduation, he became a teacher at an elementary school.

後(ご) • (-go) 

1. after

From Middle Chinese 後 (huwX, “after”). Classified as the kan'on, so likely a later borrowing. Compare modern Mandarin reading hòu.

• IPA^(key):

後(こう) • (kō-) 

1. prefixing element in kanji compounds, adding a meaning of later, after, following, rearward

Only used in compounds. Never used in isolation.

From Middle Chinese 後 (MC huwX).

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

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

後

Wikisource

後 (eumhun 뒤 후 (dwi hu))

1. hanja form^? of 후 (“after”)
2. hanja form^? of 후 (“behind”)

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

後: Hán Nôm readings: hậu

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