極

See also: 极

Translingual

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 木 + phonetic 亟 - originally meaning a crossbeam rafter.

Han character

極 (radical 75 木+9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 木一水一 (DMEM), 木弓水一 (DNEM), four-corner 4191₄, composition ⿰木亟)

1. extreme, utmost, furthest, final
2. The number 10 to the power of 48 (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).

References

• KangXi: page 542, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 15181
• Dae Jaweon: page 929, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1240, character 10
• Unihan data for U+6975

See also

• Chinese numeral 極
  • Last: 載, 载
  • Next: 恒河沙 (next chinese number, by myriad order of magnitude)

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Chinese

		-
trad.		極
simp.		极

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jí (ji²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gik⁶
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): khi̍t
• Min Nan (POJ): ke̍k

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: jí
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧˊ
    • Wade-Giles: chih²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyi
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: gik⁶
    • Yale: gihk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gik⁹
    • IPA ^(key): /kɪk̚²/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khi̍t
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /kʰit̚⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ke̍k
    • Tâi-lô: ki̍k
    • IPA (Taipei): /kɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kɪk̚¹²¹/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (極, reconstructed)
Character (極), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 群 (30) Final: 職 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Checked (Ø)			Fanqie: 渠力切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ɡɨk̚/	/gi̯ək̚/	/ɡiək̚/	/ɡɨk̚/	/gik̚/	/ɡĭək̚/	/ɡiek̚/

Old Chinese pronunciation (極, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
極								jí								‹ gik ›								/*[ɡ](r)ək/								extreme
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					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
極					5738					茍					職					0					極					/*ɡɯɡ/

Definitions

極

1. extremely; exceedingly
   • 極了／极了 ("extremely")

   • 它被切得極薄。 [MSC, trad.]

     它被切得极薄。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā bèi qiè dé jí bó. [Pinyin]

     It was cut wafer-thin.

2. (geography, physics) pole
   • 北極／北极 ("north pole")
   • 陰極／阴极 ("negative pole, cathode")
3. extreme; of the highest degree; utmost
   • 極品／极品 ("item of the highest quality")
   • 極限／极限 ("limit, the utmost limits")
4. reach the limit; do one's utmost
   • 登峰造極／登峰造极 ("to reach great heights ")
   • 物極必反／物极必反 ("a thing turns into its opposite if pushed too far")
   • 位極人臣／位极人臣 ("to have reached the highest official positions")

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Japanese

Kanji

極

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Readings

• Goon: ごく (goku)
• Kan’on: きょく (kyoku)
• On (unclassified): ごき (goki)
• Kun: きわめる (kiwameru), むね (mune), きわまる (kiwamaru)

Compounds

• 極意
• 極刑
• 極光
• 極性
• 極端
• 極地
• 極東
• 極道
• 極秘
• 極楽
• 極論
• 磁極
• 電極
• 極悪

Number

極 (ごく, goku)

1. A number of 10⁴⁸ in modern Japanese since 17th century.

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Korean

Hanja

極 (geuk) (hangeul 극, revised geuk, McCune-Reischauer kŭk, Yale kuk)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

極 (cực, cọc)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.