Translingual

Stroke order

Japanese stroke order

Han character

凹 (radical 17 凵+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 尸尸山 (SSU), four-corner 7777₀)

1. concave, hollow, depressed
2. a pass, valley

Antonyms

• 凸

References

• KangXi: page 135, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1810
• Dae Jaweon: page 301, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 308, character 3
• Unihan data for U+51F9

Chinese

Pronunciation

Adjective

凹

1. concave; hollow

Antonyms

• 凸 (tū, “convex”)

Compounds

• 凹凸 (āotū)

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: (rare) よう (yō), (rare, historical) えふ (efu)
• Kan’on: おう (ō), (historical) あふ (afu)
• Kun: くぼ (kubo), くぼ.い (凹い, kubo.i), くぼ.か (凹か, kubo.ka), くぼ.む (凹む, kubo.mu), くぼ.み (凹み, kubo.mi), くぼみ (kubomi), くぼ.める (凹める, kubo.meru), くぼ.まる (凹まる, kubo.maru), くぼ.ます (凹ます, kubo.masu), くぼ.ませる (凹ませる, kubo.maseru), くぼ.やか (凹やか, kubo.yaka), なかくぼ (nakakubo), へこ.む (凹む, heko.mu), へこ.み (凹み, heko.mi), へこみ (hekomi), ぼこ (boko)

Etymology 1

Sinitic. Date of borrowing unknown. Compare modern Mandarin 凹 ‎(āo, wā).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [o̞ː]

Affix

凹 ‎(hiragana おう, romaji ō, historical hiragana あふ)

1. concave

Usage notes

The character 凹 with the reading ō is only used in compounds, and never in isolation.

Compounds

Etymology 2

Unknown. Sound similarities might suggest a connection to words related to darkness or deep interior, such as 雲 ‎(kumo, “cloud”), 蜘蛛 ‎(kumo, “spider”), 隈 ‎(kuma, “a recess, a deep interior corner”), 黒 ‎(kuro, “black”), 暗 ‎(kura, “darkness”); more at 黒. Alternately, these broad similarities might be pure coincidence.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [kɯᵝbo̞]
• くぼ [kùbó] (Heiban)^[1]

Alternative forms

• 窪

Noun

凹 ‎(hiragana くぼ, romaji kubo)

1. an area with sides higher than the center: an indentation, a depression, a dip, a divot, a hole
2. (slang) female genitalia, the ****

Derived terms

Synonyms

• (indentation): 窪み, 窪, 凹み, 凹 (くぼみ, ​kubomi) (see below)
• (female genitalia): 前門 (ぜんもん, ​zenmon), まんこ (​manko)

Etymology 3

Noun stem of verb 凹む ‎(kubomu, “to become hollow, to become sunken, to become indented”), itself a compound of 凹 ‎(kubo, “an indentation, a dip”) +‎ む ‎(mu, “to become like something”, auxiliary verb attaching to nouns or adjective stems, cognate with びる biru).^[2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [kɯᵝbo̞mi]
• くぼみ [kùbómí] (Heiban)^[1]

Alternative forms

• 窪み, 窪, 凹み

Noun

凹 ‎(hiragana くぼみ, romaji kubomi)

1. a pit, a hollow, a cavity, a depression, a dent

Derived terms

Usage notes

The 凹み or 窪み spelling with the okurigana み is more common when used as a standalone term. The spelling without the okurigana is more common in compounds.

Etymology 4

Compound of 中 ‎(naka, “inside, inner”) +‎ 窪 ‎(kubo, “pit, indentation”).^[2][3][4]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [na̠ka̠kɯᵝbo̞]

Alternative forms

• 中窪

Noun

凹 ‎(hiragana なかくぼ, romaji nakakubo)

1. a sunken center
2. a place or object with a sunken center

Usage notes

The 中窪 spelling is more common.

Synonyms

• 中低 (なかびく, ​nakabiku)

Etymology 5

Noun stem of verb 凹む ‎(hekomu, “to become hollow, to become sunken, to become indented”), itself an abbreviated compound of 減り ‎(heri, noun stem of verb 減る heru, “to reduce, to decrease, to diminish”) +‎ 込む ‎(komu, “to go inwardly”).^[2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [he̞ko̞mi]
• へこみ [hèkómí] (Heiban)^[1]

Alternative forms

• 凹み

Noun

凹 ‎(hiragana へこみ, romaji hekomi)

1. a pit, a hollow, a cavity, a depression, a dent
2. a mistake, and error
3. a moment of weakness or confusion, being at a loss

Usage notes

The 凹み spelling is more common.

Synonyms

• (hollow): 窪み, 窪, 凹み, 凹 (くぼみ, ​kubomi) (also see above)
• (mistake): 失策 (しっさく, ​shissaku)
• (mistake): 失敗 (しっぱい, ​shippai)
• (at a loss): 困惑 (こんわく, ​konwaku)

Etymology 6

Uncertain. Possibly onomatopoeic from the sound of a wheel bouncing in a rut or pothole, or from the sound of something hollow when tapped. Compare adverb ぼこぼこ ‎(bokoboko, “full of holes; hollowly”).

Alternately, may be compound of ぼ ‎(bo, “empty?”, uncertain; possibly related to verb 掘る horu, “to dig, to dig out”) +‎ こ ‎(ko, “place”, suffixing element seen in other words such as そこ soko, “there” or 端っこ hashikko, “edge, end, tip”). Compare 凸 ‎(deko, “protrusion”), likely a compound of 出 ‎(de, “coming out”) + こ ‎(ko, “place”, suffixing element).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [bo̞ko̞]

Noun

凹 ‎(hiragana ぼこ, romaji boko)

1. an indentation, a dip or divot, a hollow, a dent in a surface

Derived terms

References

1. 1 2 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
2. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
3. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
4. ↑ 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-501211-0

Korean

Hanja

凹 • ‎(yo)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 요 (revised: yo, McCune-Reischauer: yo)

• Name (hangeul): 오목할()

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

Vietnamese

Han character

凹 (ao)

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