小

See also 尛

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Phonosemantic interpretation

Old Chinese Initial /*s-/ lends semantic value Small/Thin/Slender. vowel /*-o-/ lends semantic value Curvature or Curve and surround/envelop. Pictogram (象形) of small and curled, whittled shavings → small; little; infant; a little bit. Source: Howell & Morimoto

Etymology

小 shows a person (人) with lowered arms, implying the meaning of small. In contrast, 大 (the character for large), symbolizes a person (人) with arms outstretched.

Han character

小 (radical 42 小+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 弓金 (NC), four-corner 9000₀)

1. small, little, young, tiny, insignificant
   • Antonym: 大

Derived terms

• 尛

References

• KangXi: page 296, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7473
• Dae Jaweon: page 587, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 560, character 12
• Unihan data for U+5C0F

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Cantonese

Hanzi

小 (jyutping siu2, Yale siu2)

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Hakka

Hanzi

小 (POJ síau, Guangdong siau³; seu³ [Siyan], Hagfa Pinyim seu3)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

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Japanese

Noun

小 (hiragana しょう, romaji shō)

1. smallness; small size, small (sometimes used as an abbreviation for small serving, etc.)

Prefix

小 (hiragana しょう, romaji shō-)

1. small, little

小 (hiragana こ, romaji ko-)

1. less in size or quantity, small, little, short
2. less in intensity, small, light, slight
3. of secondary importance, secondary, sub-
4. infant

Related terms

• 子 (ko-): child
• 児 (ko-): child
• 娘 (ko-): daughter
• 仔 (ko-): offspring

Suffix

小 (hiragana しょう, romaji -shō)

1. suffix after names of elementary schools

   佃小

   つくだしょう
   tsukudashō

   Tsukuda Elementary School

Kanji

小 (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: しょう (shō)
• Kun: ちいさい (小さい, chiisai), こ (ko), お (o), さ (sa)
• Nanori: いさら (isara), こう (kō), ささ (sasa), さざ (saza), しゃお (shao), ちいさ (chiisa)

Compounds

compounds containing "小"

小さい (chiisai): small 小さな (chiisa na): small 小国 (shōkoku): small nation 小説 (shōsetsu): novel 小説家 (shōsetsuka): novelist 小額 (shōgaku): small sum 小アジア (shō-ajia): Asia Minor 小規模 (shōkibo): small scale 小東京 (shō-tōkyō): mini Tokyo 小数 (shōsū): decimal 小数点 (shōsūten): decimal point 小差 (shōsa): slight difference 小冊子 (shōsasshi): pamphlet 小児 (shōni): infant 小児科 (shōnika): pediatrics 小児病 (shōnibyō): childhood diseases 小銃 (shōjū): rifle 小人 (shōnin): child 小選挙区 (shō-senkyoku): small electoral district 小品 (shōhin): essay 小量 (shōryō): small dose 小惑星 (shōwakusei): asteroid 大小 (daishō): size 縮小 (shukushō): reduction 縮小する (shukushō suru): reduce 中小 (chūshō) small to medium 中小企業 (chūshō kigyō): smaller companies 最小 (saishō): minimum 最小限 (saishōgen): lowest 推理小説 (suirishōsetsu): mystery novel

小事 (shōji): trifle 小学 (shōgaku): elementary shcool 小学校 (shōgakkō): elementary school 小学生 (shōgakusei): shcoolchild 小康 (shōkō): lull 小便 (shōben): urine 過小評価 (kashō-hyōka): underestimation 過小評価する (kashō-hyōka suru): underrate 小一 (shōichi): first-year elementary student 同小 (dōshō): said elementary school 小の月 (shō no tsuki): month with 30 days or less 小型 (kogata): tiny 小物 (komono): gadget 小鳥 (kotori): little bird 小麦 (komugi): wheat 小麦粉 (komugiko): wheat flour 小唄 (kouta): ballad 小屋 (koya): cabin 小切手 (kogitte): check 小口 (koguchi): small amount 小幅 (kohaba): narrow range 小指 (koyubi): little finger 小文字 (komoji): lowercase letter 小さじ (kosaji): teaspoon 小牛 (koushi): calf 小刻み (kokizami): bit by bit 小皿 (kozara): small dish 小山 (koyama): hill 小枝 (koeda): twig

小舟 (kobune): boat 小石 (koishi): pebble 小銭 (kozeni): small change 小僧 (kozō): youngster 小刀 (kogatana): small knife 小島 (kojima): islet 小幅 (kohaba): small cloth 小柄 (kozuka): small build 小包 (kozutsumi): parcel 小羊 (kohitsuji): lamb 山小屋 (yamagoya): mountain hut 芝居小屋 (shibaigoya): playhouse 小雪 (koyuki): light snowfall 小声 (kogoe): whisper 小雨 (kosame): drizzle 小売 (kouri): retail 小売店 (kouriten): retail store 小結 (komusubi): rank of sumo wrestler 小遣い (kozukai): spending money 小言 (kogoto): scolding 小手先 (kotesaki): superficial cleverness 小道具 (kodōgu): stage props 小売価格 (kourikakaku): retail price 小川 (ogawa): creek 小父さん (ojisan): Mister 小母さん (obasan): lady 小豆 (azuki): adzuki bean 小火 (boya): small fire 袋小路 (fukurokōji): blind alley

Idioms

• 大は小を兼ねる

  だいはしょうをかねる

  dai wa shō o kaneru

  The greater serves the lesser.

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Korean

Hanja

小
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 소 (revised: so, McCune-Reischauer: so, Yale: so)

• Name (hangeul): 작다 (revised: jakda, McCune-Reischauer: chakta, Yale: cakta)

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

小 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin xiǎo)

1. small; tiny; few; young

Hanzi

小 (pinyin xiǎo (xiao3), shào (shao4), Wade-Giles hsiao³, shao⁴)

Compounds

• 小S

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Middle Chinese

Han character

小 (*siɛ̌u)

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Vietnamese

Han character

小 (tiểu, tĩu)