無

Translingual

Stroke order (cursive)

simplified	无
traditional	無

The character 無 in cursive script.

Wikipedia

Etymology

Simplified from 舞 (舛 → [[ ]]) – removal of 舛 (character used for sound). (Compare 可 from 奇.)

Source character meaning “dance”, top component graphically originally a figure with outstretched arms holding two animal hides: 革 + 大 + 革.

Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Han character

無 (radical 86 火+8, 12 strokes, cangjie input 人廿火 (OTF), four-corner 8033₁)

1. negative, no, not
2. lack, have no

References

• KangXi: page 673, character 26
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19113
• Dae Jaweon: page 1081, character 24
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 2211, character 15
• Unihan data for U+7121

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Cantonese

Hanzi

無 (simplified 无, Yale mou4)

(simplified 无, mou4, mou)

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Japanese

Kanji

無 (grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: む (mu), ぶ (bu)
• Kun: ない (nai), なかれ (nakare)

Compounds

Compounds

無明 (むみょう, mumyō): unenlightment; ignorance of nirvana 神無月 (かんなづき, kan'nazuki): (archaic) the tenth month of the lunar calendar 無形 (むぎょう, mugyō): formlessness, bodylessness; something shapeless and invisible 無形 (むけい, mukei): intangibility; incorporeality 無見 (むけん, muken): the belief that everything in this world is completely null and void, with no substance 無名 (むめい, mumei): nameless, anonymous, unsigned; anonymity 無用 (むよう, muyō): futility; uselessness 無機 (むき, muki): inorganic

無双 (むそう, musō): matchless, peerless 苦無 (くない, kunai): a kunai 無月 (むげつ, mugetsu): when the moon is not visible due to rain or some other reason 無精 (ぶしょう, bushō): laziness 無力 (むりょく, muryoku): powerless; incompetent 無力感 (むりょくかん, muryokukan): a feeling of powerlessness 無意識 (むいしき, muishiki): unconscious, unconsciousness 無限 (むげん, mugen): infinity; limitless; unlimited

Noun

無 (hiragana む, romaji mu)

1. Nothing(ness).
2. (Buddhism): The null set: neither yes nor no (in response to a koan or other question that mistakenly assumes an affirmative or negative answer).

Prefix

無 (hiragana む, romaji mu-)

1. non-, un-

無 (hiragana ぶ, romaji bu-)

1. non-, un-
2. poor

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Korean

Hanja

Yakja (略字, simplified cursive) form of 無.

無 (hangeul 무, revised mu, McCune-Reischauer mu, Yale mu)

1. 무 (mu, “nothing”)
2. 무 (mu, “no”)
3. (Buddhism) 무 (mu, “neither yes nor no”) (in response to a koan or a question that mistakenly assumes an affirmative or negative answer)

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Mandarin

Hanzi

無 (simplified 无, Wade-Giles wu²)

Compounds

• 無家可歸
• 無神論
• 無題
• 無所謂
• 無我

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Min Nan

Pronunciation

• (Quanzhou) IPA: [ bo˧˥ ]
• (Zhangzhou) IPA: [ bə˧˥ ]

Adverb

無 (traditional, POJ bô, simplified 无)

1. have not

   我無共伊講

   goá bô kā i kóng

   I didn't tell him

Verb

無 (traditional, POJ bô, simplified 无)

1. do not have

   我無零星錢

   goá bô lân-san-chîⁿ

   I don't have any change

See also

• (Mandarin) 沒有 (méiyǒu)

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Vietnamese

Han character

無 (vô, mô)