Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

下 (radical 1 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一卜 (MY), four-corner 1023₀, composition ⿱一卜)

1. under, underneath, below
2. down
3. inferior
4. bring down

Antonyms

• 上, 丄

See also

• 氐 (also means “down” in some uses)

References

• KangXi: page 76, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14
• Dae Jaweon: page 147, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 7, character 1
• Unihan data for U+4E0B

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 下
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script
Oracle bone script j00145 j00146 j00147 j00148 j00149 j00150 j00151 j00152 j00153 j00154 j00155 j00156 j00157 j00158 j00159 j00160 j00161 j00162 Bronze inscriptions b00153 b00154 b00155 b00156 b00157 b00158 b00159 b00160 b00161 b00162 Large seal script L34992 L34993 L34994 L34995 L34996 L34997 L34998 L34999 L35000 L35001 L17177 L17178 L17179 L17180 L17181 L17182 L17183 Small seal script s00016
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).

下 in its shell and bone form is an ideogram (指事) that shows the concept of down by showing one line below another (contrast 上). The shell and bone form evolved into 下, the character used today.

Pronunciation

Definitions

下

1. lower part, low position; down

   Antonyms: 上 (shàng)

   • 樓下 / 楼下  ―  lóuxià  ―  downstairs
2. under
   • 樹下 / 树下  ―  shùxià  ―  under the tree
   • 在這些條件下 / 在这些条件下  ―  zài zhèxiē tiáojiàn xià  ―  under these conditions
3. low
   • 下層 / 下层  ―  xiàcéng  ―  lower level
4. inferior, poor
   • 下品  ―  xiàpǐn  ―  inferior products
5. next
   • 下次  ―  xiàcì  ―  next time
6. to go down; to get out of
   • 下船  ―  xiàchuán  ―  to disembark from a boat
   • 下樓 / 下楼  ―  xiàlóu  ―  to go downstairs
   • 下山  ―  xiàshān  ―  to go down the mountain
   • 走下  ―  zǒuxià  ―  to walk down
   • 下床  ―  xiàchuáng  ―  to get out of bed
7. to fall down; to rain or snow
   • 落下  ―  luòxià  ―  to fall down
   • 下雪  ―  xiàxuě  ―  to snow
   • 下雨  ―  xiàyǔ  ―  to rain
8. to give; to issue
   • 下令  ―  xiàlìng  ―  to issue an order
9. to put in
   • 下麵條 / 下面条  ―  xià miàntiáo  ―  to put noodles into boiling water
10. to begin, to start
    • 下筆 / 下笔  ―  xiàbǐ  ―  to start writing
11. to finish, to complete
    • 下班  ―  xiàbān  ―  to get off work
    • 下課 / 下课  ―  xiàkè  ―  to finish class
12. to give birth (as an animal)
    • 下豬仔 / 下猪仔  ―  xià zhūzǐ  ―  to have piglets
13. to lay (egg)
    • 下蛋  ―  xiàdàn  ―  to lay eggs
14. (colloquial) Short for 下載 (“to download”).
    • 先去下個軟件。 / 先去下个软件。  ―  Xiān qù xià ge ruǎnjiàn.  ―  Download the software first.
15. (colloquial) Short for 下線 (“to log out”).
16. with, in
    • 在朋友的幫助下 / 在朋友的帮助下  ―  zài péngyǒu de bāngzhù xià  ―  with help from friends
17. Used after a verb to express height.
18. Used after a verb to express space.
19. Used after a verb to express the separation of an object.
20. Used after a verb to express the end of an action.
21. Classifier for the number of actions.

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: げ (ge)
• Kan’on: か (ka)
• Kun: した (shita), しも (shimo), もと (moto), さがる (下がる, sagaru), さげる (下げる, sageru), くだる (下る, kudaru), くだす (下す, kudasu), くださる (下さる, kudasaru), おりる (下りる, oriru), おろす (下ろす, orosu)

Compounds

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) した [shìtá] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɕi̥ta̠]

Noun

下 ‎(hiragana した, romaji shita)

1. the below

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) しも​ [shìmóꜜ] (Odaka - [2])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɕimo̞]

Noun

下 ‎(hiragana しも, romaji shimo)

1. lower portion, end

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) もと​ [mòtóꜜ] (Odaka - [2])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [mo̞to̞]

Noun

下 ‎(hiragana もと, romaji moto)

1. lower portion; base
2. under the influence of

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) げ​ [géꜜ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) げ [gè] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɡe̞]

Suffix

下 ‎(hiragana か, romaji -ka)

1. under a situation

Noun

下 ‎(hiragana げ, romaji ge)

1. the last volume in a two- or three-volume set

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 4 5 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

Hanja

下 • ‎(ha)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 하 (revised: ha, McCune-Reischauer: ha)

• Name (hangeul): 아래 (revised: alae, McCune-Reischauer: arae)

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

References

• Naver Hanja Dictionary: 下

Okinawan

Etymology

Attested in the 沖縄語典 (Okinawa Goten, “Okinawan Dictionary”) as しちや ‎(shichiya).^[1]

Noun

下 ‎(hiragana しちゃ, romaji shicha)

1. under

Derived terms

• 下着 ‎(しちゃぢ, shichaji, “underwear”)

References

1. ↑ 1896: 沖縄語典 (Okinawa Goten, “Okinawan Dictionary”). In Japanese. http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/992016/46

Vietnamese

Han character

下 (hạ)

1. Below
2. To go below, under, or to fall

下山: to go down a mountain

1. To sent:

下令: to command, to sent an order

1. Strip off:

下枪: to strip off one's weapon

1. To decide:

下藥: to give prescription