Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

弓 (radical 57 弓+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 弓 (N), four-corner 1720₇)

1. Kangxi radical #57, ⼸ ‎(“bow”).

See also

• 箭
• 矢

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/弓
• 發, 雋, 穹

References

• KangXi: page 356, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9692
• Dae Jaweon: page 671, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 987, character 11
• Unihan data for U+5F13

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 弓
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bamboo and silk script	Large seal script	Small seal script

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of a bow.

Pronunciation

Definitions

弓

1. a bow
2. curved, arched
3. to arch, to bend

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: く (ku) (non-Jōyō reading), くう (kū) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’on: きゅう (kyū)
• Kun: たらし (tarashi), ゆ (yu), ゆみ (yumi)
• Nanori: こ (ko), ゆ (yu)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. In modern Japanese, only found as a prefix in compounds.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [jɯᵝ]

Prefix

弓 ‎(hiragana ゆ, romaji yu-)

1. a bow, a bow shape

Derived terms

Etymology 2

弓 (yumi): Four different types of bow.

弓 (yu, yumi, tarashi, kyū): Japanese bows, arrows, and arrow-stand.

Appears to be Old Japanese yu + suffixing element mi, itself of uncertain derivation.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ゆみ​ [yùmíꜜ] (Odaka - [2])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [jɯᵝmi]

Noun

弓 ‎(hiragana ゆみ, romaji yumi)

1. a bow:
   1. (weaponry) a bow for shooting arrows
   2. (music) a bow for playing a stringed instrument such as a violin or cello
2. archery
3. (Shintō) a type of kagura (sacred Shinto song and dance) intended to drive away evil
4. short for 破魔弓 (はまゆみ) ‎(hama yumi): a ceremonial archery bow with the power to dispel evil
5. a bow shape, a curve
6. a bow-shaped tool used to beat ginned cotton into a softer and finer textile

Coordinate terms

• (archery): 矢 (や, ​ya): an arrow

Derived terms

See also

• ロングボウ

External links

• 弓_(武器) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja (archery)
• Yumi (Japanese archery bow) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 弓_(楽器) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja (music)
• Bow_(music) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 3

Alteration from torashi, 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb torasu, from tora as the 未然形 ‎(mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of verb 取る ‎(toru, “to take”) + す ‎(su, honorific suffix in Old Japanese). Original meaning was “something kept to hand”.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ta̠ɾ̠a̠ɕi]

Alternative forms

• 執

Noun

弓 ‎(hiragana たらし, romaji tarashi)

1. (rare, honorific) an archery bow, particularly one belonging to a noble

Synonyms

• 御執, 御弓 (みたらし, ​mitarashi)

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 弓 ‎(*giung).^[1][2] Compare modern Mandarin 弓 ‎(gōng).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) きゅ​う [kyúꜜù] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [kjɯᵝː]

Noun

弓 ‎(hiragana きゅう, romaji kyū)

1. (rare) a bow
2. (obsolete) in ancient Chinese archery, a unit of length for measuring the distance between the archer and the target; one kyū was equal to six 尺 ‎(shaku), roughly six feet or 182 centimeters
3. (obsolete) in ancient China, a unit of length for surveying land; one kyū was equal to eight 尺 ‎(shaku), roughly eight feet or 242 centimeters

Usage notes

In modern Japanese, the reading kyū is most often found in compounds.

Derived terms

References

1. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
3. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Korean

弓
the shape of the Hun bow

Hanja

弓 • ‎(gung)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 궁 (McCune-Reischauer: kung, Yale: kwung)

• Name (hangeul): 활()

1. (활:궁, hwal:gung): bow (for shooting arrows)

Compounds

• 弓道 (궁도, gungdo) archery

Related terms

• 弧 (활:호, hwal:ho) arc
• 弝 (줌통:파, jumtong:pa) handle
• 弦 (시위:현, siwi:hyeon) string
• 矢 (화살:시, ''hwasal:si) arrow

See also

• 穹 (하늘:궁, haneul:gung) celestial sphere, dome

Vietnamese

Han character

弓 (cung, cong, củng)

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