要

Stroke order

Stroke order

要 (Kangxi radical 146, 襾+3, 9 strokes, cangjie input 一田女 (MWV), four-corner 1040₄, composition ⿱覀女)

• 偠 喓 㙘 婹 崾 𢞅 𢰳 㴗 楆 𰃥 腰 䁏 䙅 䌁 𨪁 騕 㫏 覅 䳩 葽 嫑 嘦 闄 𧟰

• 𛀓
• 𡚩

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1128, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34768
• Dae Jaweon: page 1597, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2805, character 8
• Unihan data for U+8981

Historical forms of the character 要
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) : a woman (女) with two hands pointing to her midsection.

Original meaning was “waist” (now 腰 (OC *qew)). The hands gradually shifted upwards; the 覀 in the modern form evolved from the hands and the woman's head.

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some! Particularly: “Taishanese”

要

1. to demand; to ask; to request

   要求  ―  yāoqiú  ―  to request

2. to force; to coerce

   要脅／要胁  ―  yāoxié  ―  to threaten, to blackmail

3. to promise

   要約／要约  ―  yāoyuē  ―  to restrict, to agree to a contract/offer/bid

4. to block; to intercept

   要擊／要击  ―  yāojī  ―  to intercept, to ambush

5. (obsolete) Alternative form of 邀 (“to invite”)

   • 便要還家，設酒殺雞作食。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     便要还家，设酒杀鸡作食。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 421, Tao Yuanming, 桃花源記

     Biàn yāo huánjiā, shè jiǔ shā jī zuò shí.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. (obsolete) Alternative form of 腰 (“waist”)
7. (obsolete) contract of alliance

   久要  ―  jiǔyāo  ―  former contract

8. a surname

要

1. to want; to wish

   我要睡覺。／我要睡觉。  ―  Wǒ yào shuìjiào.  ―  I want to sleep.

   你要不要喝茶？  ―  Nǐ yào bù yào hē chá?  ―  Do you want some tea?

2. to wish to have or keep

   你要番茄醬嗎？／你要番茄酱吗？  ―  Nǐ yào fānqiéjiàng ma?  ―  Do you want ketchup?

   這本書你還要嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   这本书你还要吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè běn shū nǐ hái yào ma?

   Do you still want this book?

   他想要一部新手機。 [MSC, trad.]
   他想要一部新手机。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā xiǎng yào yī bù xīn shǒujī.

   He wants to have a new cell phone.

3. to ask for

   我要了一瓶啤酒。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Wǒ yào le yī píng píjiǔ.

   I asked for a bottle of beer.

   弟弟又跟媽媽要錢了。 [MSC, trad.]
   弟弟又跟妈妈要钱了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Dìdì yòu gēn māmā yào qián le.

   My brother asked mom for money again.

4. to request

   他要我給他買本書。 [MSC, trad.]
   他要我给他买本书。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā yào wǒ gěi tā mǎi běn shū.

   He requested that I buy a book for him.

   老闆要我馬上回覆。 [MSC, trad.]
   老板要我马上回覆。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎobǎn yào wǒ mǎshàng huífù.

   My boss demanded that I reply immediately.

5. to need

   從這裡到上海要兩個小時。 [MSC, trad.]
   从这里到上海要两个小时。 [MSC, simp.]

   Cóng zhèlǐ dào Shànghǎi yào liǎng ge xiǎoshí.

   It takes two hours to reach Shanghai from here.

   養大一個孩子要多少錢？ [MSC, trad.]
   养大一个孩子要多少钱？ [MSC, simp.]

   Yǎng dà yī ge háizǐ yào duōshào qián?

   How much does it take to raise a child?

6. will; going to (future auxiliary)

   我要走了。  ―  Wǒ yào zǒu le.  ―  I am going to go.

   我怕我們要遲到了。 [MSC, trad.]
   我怕我们要迟到了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ pà wǒmen yào chídào le.

   I fear that we will be late.

   出便咁黑，又好似要落雨噉。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   ceot¹ bin⁶ gam³ hak¹, jau⁶ hou² ci⁵ jiu³ lok⁶ jyu⁵ gam².

   It looks like it's going to rain outside.

7. should; must; to have to

   不要喝酒。  ―  Bùyào hē jiǔ.  ―  Don't drink alcohol.

   你今天一定要去看病。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Nǐ jīntiān yīdìng yào qù kànbìng.

   You must go to the doctor today.

   你要等一會兒，我的老闆現在正忙得不可開交。 [MSC, trad.]
   你要等一会儿，我的老板现在正忙得不可开交。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ yào děng yīhuìr, wǒ de lǎobǎn xiànzài zhèng máng de bùkěkāijiāo.

   You have to wait a moment. My boss is extremely busy now.

8. vital; important

   要職／要职  ―  yàozhí  ―  important post

   主要  ―  zhǔyào  ―  main

9. important points; essentials
10. if; in case of

    要繫腰帶，就用不著吊帶了。 [MSC, trad.]
    要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。 [MSC, simp.]

    Yào jì yāodài, jiù yòngbùzháo diàodài le.

    You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt.

11. (dated Shanghainese) Used to indicate the future tense.

    Synonym: 快

• Beware that 要飯／要饭 (yàofàn, literally “to want rice”) is a phrase with the meaning "to be a beggar/loafer" which is insulting to others and should be avoided when asking a person whether they want rice.

要

1. (archaic) Alternative form of 偠 (yǎo)
2. Used in 要褭／要袅.

• “要”, 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–

Shinjitai	要
Kyūjitai	要󠄁 要+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	要󠄃 要+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. need, necessity
2. essential

• Go-on: よう (yō, Jōyō)^{←えう (eu, historical)←𛀁う (yeu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: よう (yō, Jōyō)^{←えう (eu, historical)←𛀁う (yeu, ancient)}
• Kun: いる (iru, 要る, Jōyō); かなめ (kaname, 要, Jōyō); かのめ (kanome, 要); ぬま (numa, 要); ぬみ (numi, 要)

From Middle Chinese 要 (MC 'jiew|'jiewH).

First cited to 611 CE.

• (Tokyo) よ​ー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

要(よう) • (yō) ^{←えう (eu)?}

1. key, important point
2. essential piece of something, requirement

   要(よう)予約(よやく)

   yō yoyaku

   reservation is required

/kani no me/ → /kanome/ → /kaname/

A shift from older 蟹の目 (kani no me, “crab's eye”) from a superficial resemblance of the round pinhead of a folding fan to a crab's eye, influenced by a reanalysis of the term as 金目 (kaname, literally “metal” + visually prominent feature), as the pins were increasingly made from metal instead of earlier bamboo, wood, or whalebone.

First cited to 1220.

• (Tokyo) かなめ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

要(かなめ) • (kaname) 

1. a pin or rivet holding the spines of a folding fan together

   Synonyms: 要 (kanome), 蟹の目 (kani no me)

2. (by extension) a pivot, cornerstone, keystone

   Synonym: (cornerstone, keystone) 要石 (kaname ishi)

3. a pin, often decorated, holding the handle to the tang of a katana

   Synonym: 目貫 (menuki)

4. Short for 要黐 (kaname mochi): a tree, Japanese photinia (Photinia glabra)

   Synonyms: カナメモチ (kaname mochi), (kanji spelling seems to be less common) 要黐 (kaname mochi)

5. (architecture) in a certain kind of traditional Japanese hip roof where the rafters splay out like the spines of a fan, the central point to which the rafter lines converge

   Coordinate term: (literally “fan rafter”) 扇垂木 (ōgi taruki)

要(かなめ) • (Kaname) 

1. a female given name

/kani no me/ → /kanome/

A shift from older 蟹の目 (kani no me, “crab's eye”) from a superficial resemblance of the round pinhead of a folding fan to a crab's eye, influenced by a reanalysis of the term as 金目 (kaname, literally “metal” + visually prominent feature), as the pins were increasingly made from metal instead of earlier bamboo, wood, or whalebone.

First cited to roughly 1140. This reading may be obsolete, and it is not included in some dictionaries.

• IPA^(key):

要(かのめ) • (kanome) 

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) the pin or rivet holding the spines of a folding fan together

• 要(かなめ) (kaname)

From Old Japanese. Further derivation unknown.

First cited in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE, listed with both readings numa and numi.

• IPA^(key):
• IPA^(key):

要(ぬま) or 要(ぬみ) • (numa or numi) 

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) fortress, redoubt
2. (archaic, possibly obsolete) important point, key

要 (eumhun 중요할 요 (jung'yohal yo))

1. Hanja form^? of 요 (“importance”).

• 주요 (主要, juyo, “main”)

要: Hán Nôm readings: yếu, yêu

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