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 man 大 then drawn as a woman (女) with two hands pointing to his/her midsection. On top of the character there was huge eye 目, then stylized as a horn 角. The hands gradually shifted upwards; hence, a nearly-original version of the character is 𡢗. All the upper part was eventually stylized as 覀. Unrelated to 栗 but partly related to 票.

Original meaning was “waist” (now 腰 (OC *qew)).

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.

     Then they invited him home, served wine, butchered chickens and made dishes.

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.

   • 從右脅出，墮地行七步，無人扶侍；遍觀四方，舉手而言：「天上天下唯我為尊。要度眾生生老病死。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     从右胁出，堕地行七步，无人扶侍；遍观四方，举手而言：「天上天下唯我为尊。要度众生生老病死。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Dirgha Agama, translated by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian circa 5^th century CE

     Cóng yòu xié chū, duò dì xíng qī bù, wúrén fúshì; biànguān sìfāng, jǔ shǒu ér yán: “Tiānshàng tiānxià wéi wǒ wèi zūn. Yào dù zhòngshēng shēnglǎobìngsǐ.”

     Having come out of right side, he went down onto the earth and walked, helped by none, seven steps; he looked around in four directions, lifted up his hand, and said: ‘In the heavens above and below the heavens, I alone am exalted. I will save all living beings from birth, aging, sickness, and death.’

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 [1]	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.

(Fourth grade 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.^[2]

• (Tokyo) よー (Atamadaka – )^[3]
• 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

   要(よう)確認(かくにん)

   yō kakunin

   to be confirmed

/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.^[4]

First cited to 1220.^[2]

• (Tokyo) かなめ (Heiban – )^[3][5][6]
• 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.^[4]

First cited to roughly 1140.^[2] This reading may be obsolete, and it is not included in some dictionaries.^[3][5][6]

• 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.^[7]

• 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}}.