太

See also 大, and 犬

Translingual

Etymology

A superlative variant of 大 (“big”).

Also Simplified from 能, as in 态 (from 態).

Han character

太 (radical 37 大+1, 4 strokes, cangjie input 大戈 (KI), four-corner 4003₀, composition ⿵大丶)

1. very, too, much
2. big
3. extreme
4. great

Derived characters

• 駄 态

Descendants

• た

References

• KangXi: page 248, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5834
• Dae Jaweon: page 505, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 524, character 1
• Unihan data for U+592A

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Cantonese

Hanzi

太 (jyutping taai3, Yale taai3)

Compounds

• 太子

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Japanese

Kanji

太 (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. (adjective): fat

Readings

• Goon: たい (tai)
• Kan’on: たい (tai)
• Kan’yōon: た (ta), だ (da), だい (dai)
• Kun: ふと (futo), ふと.い (太い, futo.i), ふと.む (太む, futo.mu), ふと.やか (太やか, futo.yaka), ふと.る (太る, futo.ru)
• Nanori: おお (ō), たか (taka), ひろ (hiro), ふとし (futoshi)

Compounds

Compounds

ふとおり: alternate for 太絹 ふとぎぬ: a type of cloth, woven using raw silk ふともも: the thigh たいいん: the moon たいよう: the sun ふとまき: a fat roll たいきょ: the sky たいきょくけん: Chinese shadow boxing; tai chi たいくう: the sky 太原 (たいげん, Taigen; たいゆあん, Taiyuan): the Chinese city of Taiyuan

たいこ: ancient times たいこ: a drum たいこばし: an arched bridge たいこばら: a paunch たいし: the crown prince たち: a Japanese longsword たろう: a male given name からふと: Sakhalin からふと: Sakhalin

Etymology 1

Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• ふと (Heiban)
• IPA: [ɸɯ̥ᵝto̞]

Noun

太 (hiragana ふと, romaji futo)

1. fatness
2. a fat person, a fatty
3. fat-necked shamisen
4. thick thread

Synonyms

• (fat person): でぶ (​debu)
• (shamisen): 太棹 (ふとざお, ​futozao)
• (thread): 太糸 (ふといと, ​futoito)

Prefix

太 (hiragana ふと, romaji futo)

1. added to words describing gods or the emperor or other exalted subjects to denote greatness or excellence

   奈加等美乃 敷刀能里<等其>等 伊比波良倍 安<賀>布伊能知毛 多我多米尓奈礼

   中臣の 太祝詞言 言ひ祓へ 贖ふ命も 誰がために汝れ
   なかとみの ふとのりとごと いひはらへ あかふいのちも たがためになれ
   Nakatomi no / futonoritogoto / iiharae / akau inochi mo / ta ga tame ni nare

   Reciting the Nakatomi's excellent ritual offering, who's [long] life was prayed for? Yours.

2. added to regular nouns to denote fatness or thickness

   太腿、太箸

   ふともも、ふとばし
   futomomo, futobashi

   the thigh (the thick part of the leg), fat chopsticks (used at New Years)

Derived terms

Derived terms

太巻き, 太巻 (ふとまき, ​futomaki): a fat roll, often of sushi 太腿 (ふともも, ​futomomo): the thigh 太箸 (ふとばし, ​futobashi): special fat chopsticks used at New Years

Etymology 2

The Old Japanese terminal form of adjective 太い (futoi, “fat, thick, big”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ɸɯᵝto̞ɕi]

Proper noun

太 (hiragana ふとし, romaji Futoshi)

1. A male given name.

Etymology 3

Derived from the root word 大 (ō, “great, big”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [o̞ː]

Proper noun

太 (hiragana おお, romaji Ō, historical hiragana おほ)

1. A surname​.

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 太 (thajH). Compare modern Mandarin 太 (tài).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA: [ta̠i]

Prefix

太 (hiragana たい, romaji tai)

1. big, fat, great

Usage

Only found in compounds.

Derived terms

Derived terms

太陰 (たいいん, ​taiin): the moon 太陰暦 (たいいんれき, ​taiinreki): the lunar calendar 太陽 (たいよう, ​taiyō): the sun 太極拳 (たいきょくけん, ​taikyokuken): tai chi, taijiquan 太鼓 (たいこ, ​taiko): a traditional fat Japanese drum

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Korean

Hanja

太
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 태 (revised: tae, McCune-Reischauer: t'ae)

• Name (hangeul): 클 (revised: keul, McCune-Reischauer: k'ul)

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Hanzi

太 (pinyin tài (tai4), Wade-Giles t'ai⁴)

Noun

太 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin tài)

1. Mrs, e.g. 李太 is Mrs. Li, 陳太 is Mrs. Chan
2. 太太, i.e. wife.

Compounds

• 迦太基 (Jiātàijī)

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Vietnamese

Han character

太 (thái)