Wiktionary

武

See also: 㱐
武 U+6B66, 武
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6B66
← 步
[U+6B65] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 歧 →
[U+6B67]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 

Han character

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武 (Kangxi radical 77, 止+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 一心卜中一 (MPYLM), four-corner 13140, composition ⿹⿽弋一止 or ⿻一⿹弋止 or ⿻㱐㇂)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 575, character 9
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 16273
  • Dae Jaweon: page 965, character 8
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1439, character 5
  • Unihan data for U+6B66

Chinese

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simp. and trad.
 武

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 武
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
         
Characters in the same phonetic series (武) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
賦 *mpas
陚 *mpas
武 *maʔ
鵡 *maʔ
珷 *maʔ
碔 *maʔ
娬 *maʔ

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 戈 (“blade”) + 止 (“foot; to walk; to stop”) – army going on an expedition. In the character 武, the 戈 component is written above the 止 component.

The graphical origin of 武 as “to stop violence” — the ultimate state of just warfare — is traditionally attributed to King Zhuang of Chu [597 BCE]:

楚子曰：「非爾所知也。夫文，止戈為武。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
楚子曰：「非尔所知也。夫文，止戈为武。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
Chǔ Zǐ yuē: “Fēi ěr suǒ zhī yě. Fú wén, zhǐ gē wéi wǔ.” [Pinyin]
Said Lord "Chǔ" (楚): “Not exactly as what you might have believed. The term itself means: stopping ("止") the blades ("戈") thus martiality ("武").”

Linguistically, this was likely a misinterpretation, as 止 always means “to walk” (趾) when used as a radical, compare 步 (bù), 歷／历 (lì) and 歧 (qí).

Etymology

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From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-mak (“war, army, soldier”). Cognate with Tibetan དམག (dmag, “army”), Burmese မက် (mak) (as in ရဲမက် (rai:mak, “soldier”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Sagart, 2017d).

Pronunciation

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  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 武
Mandarin Beijing /u²¹⁴/
Harbin /u²¹³/
Tianjin /u¹³/
Jinan /u⁵⁵/
Qingdao /vu⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /u⁵³/
Xi'an /vu⁵³/
Xining /v̩⁵³/
Yinchuan /vu⁵³/
Lanzhou /vu⁴⁴²/
Ürümqi /vu⁵¹/
Wuhan /u⁴²/
Chengdu /u⁵³/
Guiyang /u⁴²/
Kunming /u⁵³/
Nanjing /u²¹²/
Hefei /u²⁴/
Jin Taiyuan /vu⁵³/
Pingyao /u⁵³/
Hohhot /vu⁵³/
Wu Shanghai /vu²³/
Suzhou /vu³¹/
Hangzhou /ʔu⁵³/
Wenzhou /vu³⁵/
Hui Shexian /u³⁵/
Tunxi /u³¹/
Xiang Changsha /u⁴¹/
Xiangtan /u⁴²/
Gan Nanchang /u²¹³/
Hakka Meixian /vu⁴⁴/
Taoyuan /vu³¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /mou²³/
Nanning /mu²⁴/
Hong Kong /mou¹³/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /bu⁵³/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /u³²/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /u²¹/
Shantou (Teochew) /bu⁵³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /vu²¹³/
Rime
Character 武
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4)
Final (韻) 虞 (24)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 文甫切
Baxter mjuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/mɨoX/
Pan
Wuyun 		/mioX/
Shao
Rongfen 		/mioX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/muə̆X/
Li
Rong 		/mioX/
Wang
Li 		/mĭuX/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/mi̯uX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		wǔ
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		mou5
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 武
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		wǔ
Middle
Chinese 		‹ mjuX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*m(r)aʔ/
English military

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 武
Reading # 1/1
No. 13184
Phonetic
component 		武
Rime
group 		魚
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		武
Old
Chinese 		/*maʔ/

Definitions

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武

  1. military (related to warfare, fighting)
    動武／动武  ―  dòngwǔ  ―  to use force (to fight, start a war, etc.)
  2. martial arts; wushu
    武術／武术  ―  wǔshù  ―  martial arts
    比武  ―  bǐwǔ  ―  to compete in a martial arts contest
  3. valiant; brave; courageous
    勇武  ―  yǒngwǔ  ―  valiant; courageous
  4. soldier; warrior
    玄武  ―  Xuánwǔ  ―  Black Turtle (lit. "Black Warrior") (one of the Four Symbols among the constellations in Chinese astronomy)
  5. footstep; footprint
  6. Classifier for half steps.
  7. (obsolete) to inherit
  8. a surname
    武則天／武则天  ―  Wǔ Zétiān  ―  Wu Zetian (the only legitimate female sovereign in the history of China)

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (武):
  • → Japanese: 武(ぶ) (bu)
  • → Korean: 무(武) (mu)
  • → Vietnamese: võ (武), vũ (武)

Japanese

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Kanji

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武

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

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Compounds

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Compounds

Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
武
む
Grade: 5
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 武 (mjuX, “military”).

The goon reading of mu, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

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Affix

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武(む) • (mu) 

  1. military, martial
Usage notes
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Only found in compounds. Not as common as the bu reading.

Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
武
ぶ
Grade: 5
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 武 (mjuX, “military”).

The kan'on reading of bu, so likely a re-borrowing at a later stage of Middle Chinese, or from a dialectal variation in Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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武(ぶ) • (bu) 

  1. courage, ferocity, valor
  2. military power, force of arms
  3. the act of carrying out military force: a battle, a war
  4. the way of carrying out military force: strategy, tactics, martial arts
  5. a military person: an officer, a soldier
  6. (obsolete) a unit of length, equivalent to half of a 歩 (bu, six 尺 (shaku), roughly six feet or 1.8 meters), roughly equivalent to one yard or 90 centimeters
Synonyms
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Synonyms
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 3

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Ateji used in various names.

Proper noun

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武(たけし) • (Takeshi) 

  1. a male given name

武(たける) • (Takeru) 

  1. a male given name

References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

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Hanja

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武 (eumhun 굳셀 무 (gutsel mu))

  1. hanja form? of 무 (“military nobility; soldier, warrior; weaponry, weapons”)
  2. hanja form? of 무 (“courage, honor”)
  3. hanja form? of 무 (“martial arts, wushu; to demonstrate military force: strategy, tactics, martial arts”)

Compounds

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Vietnamese

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Han character

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武: Hán Nôm readings: vũ, võ

  1. martial arts
  2. (compounds) violence
  3. chữ Hán form of Võ (“a surname”).
    武元甲 ― Võ Nguyên Giáp
  4. chữ Hán form of Vũ (“a surname”).
    武重鳳 ― Vũ Trọng Phụng
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  NODES
Note 4