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Definition 2024

優

優

優 U+512A, 優
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-512A
← 儩
[U+5129] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 儫 →
[U+512B]
See also: 优

Translingual

Han character

優 (radical 9 人+15, 17 strokes, cangjie input 人一月水 (OMBE), four-corner 21247, composition ⿰亻憂)

References

  • KangXi: page 120, character 28
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1261
  • Dae Jaweon: page 254, character 26
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 233, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+512A

Chinese

trad. 優
simp. 优

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 優
Large seal script

L33551

L33552

L33553

L11732

L11733
Small seal script

s05803
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 (憂) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
憂 *qu
優 *qu
瀀 *qu
櫌 *qu
鄾 *qu
嚘 *qu
耰 *qu
獶 *qu
纋 *qu
懮 *quʔ

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 優
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 影 (34)
Final (韻) 尤 (136)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 於求切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ʔɨu/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ʔiu/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ʔiəu/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ʔuw/
Li
Rong		 /ʔiu/
Wang
Li		 /ĭəu/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ʔi̯ə̯u/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 yōu
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 優
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 yōu
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ ʔjuw ›
Old
Chinese		 /*ʔ(r)u/
English entertainer; liberal

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 優
Reading # 1/1
No. 15494
Phonetic
component		 憂
Rime
group		 幽
Rime
subdivision		 1
Corresponding
MC rime		 憂
Old
Chinese		 /*qu/

Definitions

優

  1. excellent, superior
  2. actor

Japanese

Kanji

優

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Definitions

  1. a person with lithe movements
  2. kind (adj.), favor
  3. good, excellent, surpass, superior
    1. the best possible grade on school results
  4. rich, wealthy
  5. a sufficient amount for a certain thing
  6. tenderness, gentleness
  7. actor
Antonyms

Readings

Compounds

References

  • New Nelson: 334
  • Halpern: 177
  • Halpern Learners: 130
  • Heisig: 993
  • Tuttle Kanji Dictionary: 2a15.1
  1. Source: EDICT and KANJIDIC files licensed by the Electronic Dictionaries Research Group.

Adverb

優 ‎(hiragana ゆう, romaji yū)

  1. enough, amply
  2. easily, skillfully

Noun

優 ‎(hiragana ゆう, romaji yū)

  1. A (letter grade); excellence
  2. gentleness

Proper noun

優 ‎(hiragana まさる, romaji Masaru)

  1. A male given name

優 ‎(hiragana ゆう, romaji Yū)

  1. A female given name

Related terms

Korean

Hanja

優 • ‎(u) (hangeul 우)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

優 (ưu)

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

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