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Definition 2025

主

主

主 U+4E3B, 主
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E3B
← 为
[U+4E3A] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 丼 →
[U+4E3C]
See also: 王, 玉, 生, and 丰

Translingual

Stroke order
Japanese stroke order
Stroke order

Han character

主 (radical 3 丶+4, 5 strokes, cangjie input 卜土 (YG), four-corner 00104, composition ⿱丶王)

References

  • KangXi: page 80, character 20
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 100
  • Dae Jaweon: page 163, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 44, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4E3B

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 主

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 主
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script
Oracle bone script

j12540

j12541

j12542

j12543

j12544

j12545

j12546
Small seal script

s03652
References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (large seal) and
  • Xu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (主) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
飳 *tʰoːʔ
妵 *tʰoːʔ
黈 *tʰoːʔ
蘣 *tʰoːʔ
罜 *doːɡ, *tjos
拄 *toʔ
柱 *toʔ, *doʔ
駐 *tos
註 *tos, *tjos
鉒 *tos
軴 *tos
住 *tos, *dos
跓 *doʔ
嵀 *doʔ
主 *tjoʔ
麈 *tjoʔ
宔 *tjoʔ
炷 *tjoʔ, *tjos
注 *tjos
疰 *tjos
蛀 *tjos
霔 *tjos

Pictogram (象形)  : A picture of a lamp or a torch with a flame at the top.

Original form of 炷. Current meaning acquired by sound loan.

Pronunciation 1

Rime
Character 主
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 章 (23)
Final (韻) 虞 (24)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 之庾切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /t͡ɕɨoX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /t͡ɕioX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /t͡ɕioX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /cuə̆X/
Li
Rong		 /t͡ɕioX/
Wang
Li		 /t͡ɕĭuX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /t͡ɕi̯uX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 zhǔ
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 主
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 zhǔ
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ tsyuX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*toʔ/
English master; host

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 主
Reading # 1/1
No. 17618
Phonetic
component		 主
Rime
group		 侯
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 主
Old
Chinese		 /*tjoʔ/

Definitions

主

  1. owner; master
  2. host
  3. (Christianity, Islam) Lord
  4. emperor
  5. main; primary
    主要  ―  zhǔyào  ―  main
  6. to be in charge of
  7. to indicate; to signify
  8. A surname​.

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

主

  1. Classifier for events.
  2. Alternative form of 注 (zhù, “to pour into”).

Japanese

Kanji

主

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Adjectival noun

主 ‎(-na inflection, hiragana おも, romaji omo)

  1. chief, main, principal, foremost

Inflection

Noun

主 ‎(hiragana しゅ, romaji shu)

  1. head of the family
  2. master, mistress
  3. one's husband
  4. proprietor, landlord

Synonyms

Noun

主 ‎(hiragana ぬし, romaji nushi)

  1. master
  2. owner, proprietor
  3. guardian spirit

Korean

Hanja

主 • ‎(ju)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 주 (revised: ju, McCune-Reischauer: chu)
  • Name (hangeul): 임금, 주인 (revised: imgeum, juin, McCune-Reischauer: imgǔm, chuin)
  1. king, master, host

compounds

References

Vietnamese

Han character

主 (chủ, chúa)

  1. Hán tự form of chủ, “owner”
  2. Nôm form of chúa, “retired father of a king”
  3. Nôm form of Chúa, “God; Christ; Lord”

Usage notes

Compounds

References

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