胡

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

胡 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 十口月 (JRB), four-corner 4762₀, composition ⿰古月(GJKV) or ⿰古⺼(HT))

Derived characters

• 𪝍, 㗅, 𡎁, 媩, 𢰮, 湖, 猢, 楜, 煳, 瑚, 𥔓, 𧛞, 糊, 蝴, 䠒, 醐, 鍸, 䩴, 餬(𫗫), 鰗(𬶞), 𪍒(𱋟), 𪐉, 𪕱
• 𤭱, 𮍂, 鶘(鹕), 𪕮, 葫, 箶, 鬍, 𢉢, 㾰, 𡹹, 𧍵, 𨡷, 𩀉, 䭌, 鶦(𫛷), 衚, 𧛫, 𮠐

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 979, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29400
• Dae Jaweon: page 1431, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2056, character 8
• Unihan data for U+80E1

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 胡
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaː) : phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ) + semantic ⺼.

Etymology 1

"dewlap"

A derivative is 鬍 (“beard”) (Schuessler, 2007).

"steppe nomads"

Etymology unknown (Schuessler, 2007).

interrogative word ("what; why; how")

Cognate with 何 (OC *ɡaːl, “what; where; why; how”), Tibetan ག་ན (ga na, “where; how”), Tibetan ག་རུ (ga ru, “to where”) (Schuessler, 2007). See 何 (hé) for more.

Pronunciation

Definitions

胡

1. (obsolete) wattle; dewlap (fleshy lobe hanging from the head or neck of animals)

   • 狼跋其胡，載疐其尾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     狼跋其胡，载疐其尾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Láng bá qí hú, zǎi zhì qí wěi. [Pinyin]

     The wolf springs forward on his dewlap, or trips back on his tail.

2. (obsolete) wattle-like object, such as pendent parts on implements
3. (literary) how; why; what

   • 胡能有定？寧不我顧。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     胡能有定？宁不我顾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Hú néng yǒu dìng? Níng bù wǒ gù. [Pinyin]

     How can he get his mind settled? Would he then not regard me?

   • 式微，式微！胡不歸？ [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     式微，式微！胡不归？ [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Shìwēi, shìwēi! Hú bù guī? [Pinyin]

     Reduced! Reduced! Why not return?

   • 然胡不嘗考之聖王之事？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     然胡不尝考之圣王之事？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mozi, c. 4^th century BCE

     Rán hú bù cháng kǎo zhī shèngwáng zhī shì? [Pinyin]

     Again, why not let us inquire into the deeds of the sage-kings?

4. (historical) barbarian; a generic term for any non-Han peoples who lived to the north and west of China's borders

   胡人  ―  húrén  ―  foreigner

   • 胡之無弓車也，非無弓車也，夫人而能為弓車也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     胡之无弓车也，非无弓车也，夫人而能为弓车也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Rites of Zhou, circa 3^rd century BCE

     Hú zhī wú gōngchē yě, fēi wú gōngchē yě, fú rén ér néng wéi gōngchē yě. [Pinyin]

     If one says the Hu / neighbouring peoples have no artificers who are specialised in making bows and carriages, it does not mean there are no bows and carriages; on the contrary, every workman is able to manufacture bows and carriages.

5. (historical) countries and peoples in the Western Regions, including Persia, Daqin, and in Pre-Tang texts, India
6. (by extension) introduced from the northern or western non-Han peoples or from abroad; non-Chinese; foreign; imported

   胡桃  ―  hútáo  ―  walnut

   胡蘿蔔／胡萝卜  ―  húluóbo  ―  carrot

7. Short for 胡琴 (húqín, “huqin; general term for two-stringed bowed instruments with origins in the western non-Han peoples”).

   二胡  ―  èrhú  ―  erhu

   板胡  ―  bǎnhú  ―  banhu

8. (historical) (～國) State of Hu in the Spring and Autumn Period in modern-day Anhui, conquered by the State of Chu in 496 BCE
9. (obsolete) black; dark-skinned
10. (obsolete) far; great; senior
11. outrageously; recklessly; wildly; foolishly

    胡說／胡说  ―  húshuō  ―  to talk nonsense

    胡搞  ―  húgǎo  ―  to mess around

12. a surname

    胡錦濤／胡锦涛  ―  Hú Jǐntāo  ―  Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 2002 to 2012

Synonyms

• (why):

• (barbarian): 番 (fān)

Descendants

• → English: Hu, Hoo, Wu, Woo, Oh

Compounds

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

Etymology 6

Etymology 7

References

• “胡”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

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

Readings

• Go-on: ぐ (gu); ご (go)
• Kan-on: こ (ko)
• Tō-on: う (u)
• Kun: えびす (ebisu, 胡); なんぞ (nanzo, 胡ぞ)

Compounds

Korean

Hanja

胡 • (ho) (hangeul 호, revised ho, McCune–Reischauer ho, Yale ho)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

胡: Hán Nôm readings: hồ, hò, ha

1. chữ Hán form of Hồ (“a surname”).

   胡春香 ― Hồ Xuân Hương