Wiktionary

任

See also: 仟 and 件
任 U+4EFB, 任
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4EFB
← 仺
[U+4EFA] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 仼 →
[U+4EFC]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 

Han character

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任 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+4, 6 strokes, cangjie input 人竹土 (OHG), four-corner 22214, composition ⿰亻壬)

Derived characters

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 94, character 24
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 416
  • Dae Jaweon: page 200, character 15
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 122, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+4EFB

Chinese

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trad. 任
simp. # 任

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 任
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
         
 
b12353
 
b12354
 
s05801
Transcribed ancient scripts
 
L33730
 
L33731
 
L12273
 
L12274
 
L12275
 
L12276
 
L12277
 
L12278
 
L12279
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 (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (壬) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
紝 *nɯm, *njɯm, *njɯms
鵀 *nɯm, *njɯm, *njɯms
拰 *nɯmʔ
賃 *nɯms
任 *njɯm, *njɯms
壬 *l̥ʰeːŋʔ, *njɯm
恁 *njɯm, *njɯmʔ
銋 *njɯm, *njɯmʔ
荏 *njɯmʔ
餁 *njɯmʔ
栠 *njɯmʔ
袵 *njɯmʔ
飪 *njɯmʔ
妊 *njɯms
衽 *njɯms

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *njɯm, *njɯms) : semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 壬 (OC *l̥ʰeːŋʔ, *njɯm) – to carry on a shoulder pole.

Note that its phonetic part 壬 (OC *njɯm) may be the graphical representation of 任, depicting a shoulder pole rotated by 90 degrees.

Etymology

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Cognate with 妊 (OC *njɯms, “pregnant”) and Tibetan སྣོམ་པ (snom pa, “to take; seize; hold”). May also be cognate with Proto-Kam-Sui *ȵam¹ (“to hold”) and Old Khmer nāṃ (“to carry”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation 1

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Note: literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 任 (責任)
Mandarin Beijing /ʐən⁵¹/
Harbin /ʐən⁵³/
Tianjin /in⁵³/
/ʐən⁵³/
Jinan /ʐẽ²¹/
Qingdao /iə̃⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ʐən³¹²/
Xi'an /ʐẽ⁴⁴/
Xining /ʐə̃²¹³/
Yinchuan /ʐəŋ¹³/
Lanzhou /ʐə̃n¹³/
Ürümqi /ʐɤŋ²¹³/
Wuhan /nən³⁵/
Chengdu /zən¹³/
Guiyang /zen²¹³/
Kunming /ʐə̃²¹²/
Nanjing /ʐən⁴⁴/
Hefei /ʐən⁵³/
Jin Taiyuan /zəŋ⁴⁵/
Pingyao /ʐəŋ³⁵/
Hohhot /ʐə̃ŋ⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /zəŋ²³/
Suzhou /zən³¹/
Hangzhou /zen¹³/
Wenzhou /zaŋ²²/
Hui Shexian /iʌ̃²²/
Tunxi /ian¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ʐən⁵⁵/
Xiangtan /in⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang /lɨn²¹/
Hakka Meixian /im⁵³/
Taoyuan /im⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /jɐm²²/
Nanning /jɐm²²/
Hong Kong /jɐm²²/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /lim²²/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /ɛiŋ²⁴²/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /iŋ⁴⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /zim³⁵/
/zim³¹/
Haikou (Hainanese) /zim³³/
Rime
Character 任
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 日 (38)
Final (韻) 侵 (139)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 汝鴆切
Baxter nyimH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ȵiɪmH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ȵimH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ȵʑjemH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ȵimH/
Li
Rong 		/ȵiəmH/
Wang
Li 		/ȵʑĭĕmH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ȵʑi̯əmH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		rèn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		jam6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 任
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		rèn
Middle
Chinese 		‹ nyimH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*n[ə]m-s/
English burden; charge (n.)

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 任
Reading # 2/2
No. 10823
Phonetic
component 		壬
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		妊
Old
Chinese 		/*njɯms/

Definitions

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任

  1. to carry on a shoulder pole; to carry
  2. to bear; to endure; to put up with
  3. to take charge of; to assume the post of; to be in charge of
  4. to trust to; to rely on; to believe; to guarantee
  5. to appoint; to assign someone to a post
  6. to indulge; to be self-indulgent; to allow
    • 放任  ―  fàngrèn  ―  to indulge
  7. load; burden; luggage; baggage
  8. duty; responsibility; obligation
  9. tenure; term of office; incumbency
    • 現任／现任  ―  xiànrèn  ―  to be currently serving as; incumbent
    • 前任  ―  qiánrèn  ―  predecessor
    • 繼任／继任  ―  jìrèn  ―  successor
  10. office; post; position
  11. officeholder; postholder
  12. even if; even though
  13. no matter how; regardless of
  14. Classifier for terms of office.

Compounds

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Pronunciation 2

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Note:
  • jam4 - prescribed;
  • jam6 - variant.
Note: vernacular (“surname”).
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 任 (姓任)
Mandarin Beijing /ʐən³⁵/
Harbin /ʐən²⁴/
Tianjin /in⁴⁵/
/ʐən⁴⁵/
Jinan /ʐẽ⁴²/
Qingdao /iə̃⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ʐən⁴²/
Xi'an /ʐẽ²⁴/
Xining /ʐə̃²⁴/
Yinchuan /ʐəŋ⁵³/
Lanzhou /ʐə̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /ʐɤŋ⁵¹/
Wuhan /nən²¹³/
Chengdu /zən³¹/
Guiyang /zen²¹/
Kunming /ʐə̃³¹/
Nanjing /ʐən²⁴/
Hefei /ʐən⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /zəŋ¹¹/
Pingyao /ʐəŋ¹³/
Hohhot /ʐə̃ŋ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ȵiŋ²³/
/zəŋ²³/
Suzhou /ȵin¹³/
Hangzhou /zen²¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵaŋ³¹/
Hui Shexian /iʌ̃²²/
Tunxi /ian¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ʐən¹³/
Xiangtan /in⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang
Hakka Meixian /im⁵³/
Taoyuan
Cantonese Guangzhou /jɐm²¹/
Nanning /jɐm²²/
Hong Kong /jɐm²¹/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /lim³⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /iŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /iŋ²¹/
Shantou (Teochew) /zim³⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /zim³⁵/
Rime
Character 任
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 日 (38)
Final (韻) 侵 (139)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 如林切
Baxter nyim
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ȵiɪm/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ȵim/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ȵʑjem/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ȵim/
Li
Rong 		/ȵiəm/
Wang
Li 		/ȵʑĭĕm/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ȵʑi̯əm/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		rén
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		jam4
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 任
Reading # 1/2
No. 10808
Phonetic
component 		壬
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		任
Old
Chinese 		/*njɯm/

Definitions

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任

  1. (historical) an ancient woman's rank of nobility
  2. (historical) an ancient music of the southern indigenous people
  3. † Alternative form of 壬 (rén, “artful; fawning”)
  4. a surname
    任弼時／任弼时  ―  Rén Bìshí  ―  Ren Bishi (military and political leader in the early Chinese Communist Party)

Compounds

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Japanese

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Kanji

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任

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. responsibility
  2. duty
  3. term
  4. entrust to
  5. appoint

Readings

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Compounds

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Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
任
にん
Grade: 5
goon

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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任(にん) • (nin) 

  1. duty, responsibility, obligation

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
任
まき
Grade: 5
kun'yomi

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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任(まき) • (maki) 

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

Etymology 3

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Kanji in this term
任
まけ
Grade: 5
kun'yomi

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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任(まけ) • (make) 

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

Etymology 4

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For pronunciation and definitions of 任 – see the following entry.
【儘まま】H
[noun] the same, unchanged state; state as it is
[noun] (mostly in the form 儘になる (mama ni naru)) the desired or ideal state; freedom
[noun] act of leaving things as it is
Alternative spellings
随, 侭, まんま
(This term, 任, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean

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Hanja

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任 (eumhun 맡길 임 (matgil im))

  1. hanja form? of 임 (“duty; responsibility”)

Compounds

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Vietnamese

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Han character

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任: Hán Việt readings: nhậm[1][2][3], nhiệm[1][3], nhâm[3]
任: Nôm readings: nhậm[1][2][3], nhằm[1][2][3], nhiệm[1][4], nhầm[2][4], nhẩm[3][4], nhăm[3], nhặm[3], vững[3]

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

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hồ (1976).
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  NODES
Idea 1
idea 1
Note 6