Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

能 (radical 130 肉+6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 戈月心心 (IBPP), four-corner 2121₁, composition ⿰䏍⿱匕匕)

Derived characters

• 態 罷

References

• KangXi: page 981, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29454
• Dae Jaweon: page 1433, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 2074, character 1
• Unihan data for U+80FD

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Pictogram (象形) : bear. Compare 熊 (OC *ɢʷlɯm, “bear”).

Etymology

“Be able to; can; ability”. Shijing rhymes point to Old Chinese *nə, but the forms with *-ŋ are also archaic (perhaps ancient dialectal variation?).

Possibly Sino–Tibetan: compare Tibetan ནུས་པ ‎(nus pa, “be able to; capable; to withstand; capacity; strength; force; power; function; energy”), Burmese နိုင် ‎(nuing, “can, be able to, may; master; win; prevail”). Schuessler (2007) also derives 態 (OC *n̥ʰɯːs, “apparition, bearing, manner”) from this.

Compare the old Sino–Vietnamese loanword nổi ‎(“be able to; capable”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

能

1. ^†A mythological bear-like animal, with deer-like legs.
2. able; capable
3. can; to be able to; to be capable of

   我能跑得快。  ―  Wǒ néng pǎo de kuài.  ―  I can run fast.

   • 有人能幫我嗎？ / 有人能帮我吗？  ―  Yǒu rén néng bāng wǒ ma?  ―  Is there anybody who can help me?
   • 高潮時你不能在這個海灘散步。 [MSC, trad.]
     高潮时你不能在这个海滩散步。 [MSC, simp.]

     Gāocháo shí nǐ bù néng zài zhège hǎitān sànbù. [Pinyin]

     You can't walk along this beach at high tide.

4. may
   • 能不能請你幫個忙？ [MSC, trad.]
     能不能请你帮个忙？ [MSC, simp.]

     Néng bù néng qǐng nǐ bāng ge máng? [Pinyin]

     May I ask a favour of you?

5. rather; would rather
6. ability; capability

   能力  ―  nénglì  ―  capability, ability

7. talent; talented person

   才能  ―  cáinéng  ―  talent, ability

8. energy; power
   • 太陽能 / 太阳能  ―  tàiyángnéng  ―  solar energy
   • 水能  ―  shuǐnéng  ―  hydroelectric power
   • 動能 / 动能  ―  dòngnéng  ―  kinetic energy
9. A surname​. Neng

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

能

1. ^†Alternative form of 耐 (nài, “to bear; to withstand”).
2. A surname​.

Pronunciation 3

Definitions

能

1. ^†Alternative form of 台 (“name of a Chinese constellation”).

   三能  ―  sāntái  ―  Santai (Chinese constellation)

Pronunciation 4

Definitions

能

1. ^†Alternative form of 態／态 (tài, “bearing; apparition; form; shape; status; position”).

Pronunciation 5

Definitions

能

1. ^† A three-legged soft-shelled turtle.

Pronunciation 6

Definitions

能

1. ^†Only used in 能始 (“origin, root cause”).

Pronunciation 7

Definitions

能

1. ^†Alternative form of 熊 (xióng, “bear”).

Japanese

Noh stage at Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.

Kanji

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. ability
2. talent
3. skill
4. capacity

Readings

• Goon: のう (nō), の (no), ない (nai)
• Kan’on: どう (dō), だい (dai)
• Kan’yōon: たい (tai)
• Kun: 能う (あた・う, ata-u), 能く (よ・く, yo-ku), 能くする (よ・くする, yo-ku suru)

Compounds

• 能動 (のうどう) ‎(nōdō): being active
• 能力 (のうりょく) ‎(nōryoku): ability

Noun

能 ‎(hiragana のう, romaji nō)

1. Noh, a form of classical Japanese musical drama.
2. Ability, capacity, aptitude.
3. Effect, use.

   古 (ふる)い議論 (ぎろん)を繰 (く)り返 (かえ)しても能 (のう)はないのだよ。

   Furui giron o kurikaeshite mo nō wa nai no da yo.

   Repeating old arguments isn't of any use / won't have any effect.

Synonyms

• (drama): 能楽 (のうがく) ‎(nōgaku)

Korean

Hanja

能 • ‎(neung, nae) (hangeul 능, 내, McCune-Reischauer nŭng, nae, Yale nung, nay)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

能 (năng, hay, nấng, năn, nằng, nưng)

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