枚

Stroke order

枚 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 木人大 (DOK), four-corner 4894₀, composition ⿰木攵)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 516, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14554
• Dae Jaweon: page 904, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1171, character 1
• Unihan data for U+679A

Generally thought to be an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 木 (“tree; wood”) + 攴 (“hand holding a stick”).

However, Zhengzhang (2003) considers it to be a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯːl) : semantic 木 (“wood”) + phonetic 文 (OC *mɯn), where 文 was later corrupted to 攴.

From Austroasiatic; compare Old Khmer mek (“branch; bough”) (Schuessler, 2007). Note also similarities to Burmese မဲ (mai:, “vote, ballot, lot”).

枚

1. (archaic) stalk of shrub; trunk of tree

   • 遵彼汝墳，伐其條枚。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     遵彼汝坟，伐其条枚。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zūn bǐ Rǔ fén, fá qí tiáo méi.

     Along those raised banks of the Ru,
     I cut down the branches and slender stems.

2. (historical) wooden peg (a gag for marching soldiers to prevent talking)

   • 又如赴敵之兵，銜枚疾走，不聞號令，但聞人馬之行聲。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     又如赴敌之兵，衔枚疾走，不闻号令，但闻人马之行声。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 1059, Ouyang Xiu (歐陽修), Autumn (《秋聲賦》). English translation by Arthur Waley (1919).

     Yòu rú fùdí zhī bīng, xiánméi jízǒu, bùwén hàolìng, dànwén rénmǎ zhī xíng shēng.

     Or again, like the sound of soldiers going to battle, who march swiftly with their gags between their teeth, when the captain's voice cannot be heard, but only the tramp of horses and men moving.

3. (obsolete) small wooden rod; counting rod

   • 南蒯枚筮之，遇坤䷁之比䷇。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Nán Kuǎi méi shì zhī, yù Kūn ䷁ zhī Bǐ ䷇.

     Nan Kuai used small rods in the place of yarrow stalks to divine in a casual manner. He first encountered the sign of Kun which then gave rise to Bi.

4. (dated) Classifier for generic countable objects.
   1. one by one; each

      枚舉／枚举  ―  méijǔ  ―  to enumerate

5. Classifier for certain small, flat objects, such as coins, stamps, badges, pearls, sporting medals. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
6. Classifier for rockets, satellites and certain weapons (especially bombs).
7. (neologism) Classifier for people.^[1]
8. (neologism) Classifier for flat thin objects (especially followed by 入 mimicking Japanese usage to give an exotic flair or exaggerated quality perception of a product)^[1]

   10枚入  ―  10 méi rù  ―  10 pieces (inside)

9. a surname: Mei

From Lingao mɔʔ⁸ (classifier for objects) (Fu, 2008).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

枚

1. (Hainanese) Classifier for generic countable objects.

   • Kopi牛奶飯珍雞閹　這枚就是海南經典 [Hainanese, trad.]
     Kopi牛奶饭珍鸡阉　这枚就是海南经典 [Hainanese, simp.]

     From: 麦英, 海南鸡饭

     Coffee with milk, rice balls and a capon, these are Hainan's classics.

(Sixth grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: まい (mai, Jōyō)、め (me)
• Kan-on: ばい (bai)
• Kun: ひら (hira, 枚)

pira > ɸira > hira. Cognate with 平 (hira, “flat”).

• 片

枚(ひら) • (hira) 

1. an object that is thin and flat

• 帷(かた)子(びら) (katabira)
• 湯(ゆ)帷(かた)子(びら) (yukatabira)

From Middle Chinese 枚 (MC mwoj)

枚(まい) • (-mai) 

1. counter for flat thin objects or sheets

枚 (eum 매 (mae))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

(Sixth grade kyōiku kanji)

• On (unclassified): めー (mē)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

枚(めー) (-mē) 

1. counter for flat thin objects or sheets

枚 (mười)

1. Nôm form of mười (“ochna”).

• Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày‎ (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

枚: Hán Nôm readings: mai

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.