北

See also: 业, 比, 非, and 兆

北 U+F963, 北 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F963 ← 異 [U+F962] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 磻 → [U+F964]

北 U+2F82B, 北 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F82B ← 匆 [U+2F82A] CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 卉 → [U+2F82C]

Translingual

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

北 (Kangxi radical 21, 匕+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 中一心 (LMP), four-corner 1111₀, composition ⿲⿱一㇀丨匕(GJKV) or ⿰⿱⿰一丨㇀匕(HT))

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 152, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2574
• Dae Jaweon: page 342, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 262, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5317

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Chinese

trad.		北
simp. #		北

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 北
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (北) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
背	*pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs
鄁	*bɯːɡs
偝	*bɯːɡs
邶	*bɯːɡs
苝	*bɯːɡs
北	*pɯːɡ

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – two men back to back. Originally meaning “back”; the character 背 (OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) refers to the original word.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).

The sense of “north” is derived from “back (of body)”: “back” → “to turn the back to; to retreat” → “north”.

The ancient Chinese value the southern direction and houses are traditionally oriented along a north-south axis, as evident in the fengshui theory and orientation of buildings in Chinese Neolithic sites. North is the direction the back is oriented to when the person is facing south.

Compare the graphical origin of 南 (OC *nuːm, “south”) (Sagart, 1988).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 北

1. north; northern
2. to be defeated; to fail

Coordinate terms

• 東／东 (dōng)
• 西 (xī)
• 南 (nán)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (北):

• → Japanese: 北(ほく) (hoku); 北(ペー) (pē)
• → Korean: 북(北) (buk)
• → Vietnamese: bắc (北)

Further reading

• “Entry #1395”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

北

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. north
2. escape, run away

Readings

• Go-on: ほく (hoku, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: ほく (hoku, Jōyō)
• Tō-on: ぺ (pe)
• Kan’yō-on: ぺい (pei)
• Kun: きた (kita, 北, Jōyō); にげる (nigeru, 北げる)
• Nanori: きら (kira); ほう (hō); ほっ (ho'); ほつ (hotsu); ちゃ (cha)

Compounds

Compounds

• 北(ほく)緯(い) (hokui)
• 北(ほっ)海(かい) (hokkai), 北(ほっ)海(かい) (Hokkai)
• 北(ほっ)海(かい)道(どう) (Hokkaidō)
• 北(ほっ)極(きょく) (hokkyoku), 北(ほっ)極(きょく) (Hokkyoku)
• 北(ほっ)国(こく) (hokkoku)
• 北(ほく)州(しゅう), 北(ほく)洲(しゅう) (Hokushū)
• 北(ほく)上(じょう) (hokujō)
• 北(ほう)条(じょう) (Hōjō)
• 北(ほく)進(しん) (hokushin)
• 北(ほく)西(せい) (hokusei)
• 北(ほく)叟(そ)笑(え)む (hokusoemu)
• 北(ほく)端(たん) (hokutan)
• 北(ほく)天(てん) (hokuten)
• 北(ほく)斗(と) (hokuto)
  • 北(ほく)斗(と)七(しち)星(せい) (Hokuto Shichisei, “Big Dipper”)
• 北(ほく)東(とう) (hokutō)
• 北(ほく)部(ぶ) (hokubu)
• 北(ほく)風(ふう) (hokufū)
• 北(ほっ)方(ぽう) (hoppō)
• 北(ほく)北(ほく)西(せい) (hoku-hokusei)
• 北(ほく)北(ほく)東(とう) (hoku-hokutō)
• 北(ほく)溟(めい), 北(ほく)冥(めい) (hokumei)
• 北(ほく)面(めん) (hokumen)
• 北(ほく)洋(よう) (hokuyō)
• 北(ほく)陸(りく) (Hokuriku)
• 北(ほっ)方(ぽう) (hoppō)
• 極(きょく)北(ほく) (kyokuhoku)
• 硯(けん)北(ぼく) (kenboku)
• 朔(さく)北(ほく) (sakuhoku)
• 新(しん)北(ぼく) (Shinboku)
• 西(せい)北(ほく) (seihoku)
• 東(とう)北(ほく) (tōhoku)
• 南(なん)北(ぼく) (nanboku)
• 敗(はい)北(ぼく) (haiboku, “defeat”)
• 北(ペイ)平(ピン) (Peipin)
• 北(ペ)京(キン) (Pekin)
• 台(タイ)北(ペイ) (Taipei)
• 東(トン)北(ペー) (Tonpē)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
北
きた Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Possibly from Old Japanese.

Ultimate derivation unknown.

Pronunciation

(Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?)

Noun

北(きた) • (kita) 

1. north (cardinal point)
   • 905, Kokin Wakashū (book 9, poem 412)

     北(きた)へ行(ゆ)く雁(かり)ぞ鳴(な)くなるつれてこし数(かず)はたらでぞかへるべらなる

     kita e yuku kari zo nakunaru tsurete koshi kazu wa tarade zo kaeruberanaru

     (please add an English translation of this example)

   Antonym: 南 (minami)

2. the North (northern part of a region)
3. a northerly, north wind

   Synonym: 北風 (kitakaze, hokufū)

   Antonym: 南 (minami)

4. Short for 北の方 (kita no kata): northward
5. a developed country

   from the many countries in the Northern Hemisphere are considered developed

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 北(きた)面(おもて) (kita-omote)
• 北風(きたかぜ) (kitakaze)
• 北方(きたがた) (Kitagata)
• 北国(きたぐに) (kitaguni)
• 北(きた)時雨(しぐれ) (kita shigure)
• 北(きた)の方(かた) (kita no kata)
• 北(きた)半球(はんきゅう) (Kita Hankyū)
• 北窓(きたまど) (kitamado)
• 西北(にしきた) (nishi-kita)
• 東(ひがし)北(きた) (higashi-kita)

Proper noun

北(きた) or 北(キタ) • (Kita) 

1. a place name, especially the name of a ward in various cities in Japan
2. (historical) the red-light district north of Edo Castle

   Synonyms: 北郭 (Hokkaku), 北国 (Hokkoku)

4. a female given name

Verb

北(きた)する • (kita suru) suru (stem 北(きた)し (kita shi), past 北(きた)した (kita shita))

1. to go northwards

   Synonym: 北進する (hokushin suru)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "北する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	北し	きたし	kita shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	北し	きたし	kita shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	北する	きたする	kita suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	北する	きたする	kita suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	北すれ	きたすれ	kita sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	北せよ¹ 北しろ²	きたせよ¹ きたしろ²	kita seyo¹ kita shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	北される	きたされる	kita sareru
Causative	北させる 北さす	きたさせる きたさす	kita saseru kita sasu
Potential	北できる	きたできる	kita dekiru
Volitional	北しよう	きたしよう	kita shiyō
Negative	北しない	きたしない	kita shinai
Negative continuative	北せず	きたせず	kita sezu
Formal	北します	きたします	kita shimasu
Perfective	北した	きたした	kita shita
Conjunctive	北して	きたして	kita shite
Hypothetical conditional	北すれば	きたすれば	kita sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
北
Grade: 2
irregular

From Mandarin 北 (běi).

Noun

北(ペー) • (pē) 

1. (mahjong) north wind (mahjong tile)

   Hypernym: 風牌 (kazehai, fanpai)

2. (mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of north wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)

   Hypernym: 役牌 (yakuhai, yaku-pai)

Coordinate terms

• 風(かぜ)牌(ハイ) (kazehai, “wind tiles”): 東(トン) (ton, “east wind”), 南(ナン) (nan, “south wind”), 西(シャー) (shā, “west wind”), 北(ペー) (pē, “north wind”)

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Korean

Hanja

北 (eumhun 북녘 북 (bungnyeok buk))

1. Hanja form^? of 북 (“north”).

Hanja

北 (eumhun 달아날 배 (daranal bae))

1. Hanja form^? of 배 (“to escape; flee”).

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Okinawan

Kanji

北

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: にし (nishi, 北)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
北
にし Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Cognate with mainland Japanese 西 (nishi, “west”).

Noun

北(にし) (nishi) 

1. north; northern; northwards

Derived terms

• 北(にし)風(かじ) (nishikaji, “north wind”)

References

• “ニシ” in Haisai Okinawan Dialect.
• “にし【北】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• “ニシ（にし）” in Okinawan Dialect Dictionary - Ajima.
• “にし” in Okinawan Dictionary - KozaWeb.
• “ニシ” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).

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Southern Amami-Oshima

Kanji

北

Readings

• Kun: にし (nishi)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 西 (nishi, “west”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [niɕi]

Noun

北 (hiragana にし, rōmaji nishi)

1. north; northern; northwards

References

• “にし【北】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 北 (bắc, bác, bấc, bậc, bước)

1. north