呉

See also: 吳, 県, and 吴

Translingual

Traditional	吳
Shinjitai	呉
Simplified	吴

Glyph origin

Variant of 吳.

The modern Japanese usage is of reform (shinjitai) nature.

Han character

呉 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 口女弓金 (RVNC), composition ⿳⿺𠃑口一八(GJ) or ⿱⿳口𠃑一八(T))

Derived characters

• 娯 誤 虞

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 181, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3365
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 1, page 595, character 8
• Unihan data for U+5449

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Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 呉 – see 吳 (“to speak loudly; to shout; big; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 吳).

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Japanese

Kanji

呉

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. China
2. to give something, to do something for someone

Readings

• Go-on: ぐ (gu)
• Kan-on: ご (go, Jōyō)
• Kun: くれ (kure, 呉); くれる (kureru, 呉れる)

Compounds

Compounds

• 呉牛(ごぎゅう) (gogyū): water buffalo

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
呉
ご Grade: S
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
吳 (kyūjitai)

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese 吳／吴 (ngu, name of a state). Compare modern (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Mandarin 吳／吴 (Wú).

Proper noun

1. Japanese reading of the Chinese surname Wu.
2. the ancient State of Wu
3. China, Chinese

   More commonly found in compounds in modern Japanese.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 呉音(ごおん) (goon): a kind of kanji reading, indicating an older borrowing from Chinese

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
呉
くれ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
吳 (kyūjitai)

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 暮れる (kureru, “to set (said of the sun or moon), to get dark”), from the way that China lies to the west of Japan, in the direction of the setting sun. Originally referred more specifically to the ancient State of Wu (roughly analogous with the modern Jiangnan region), and later referring to China as a whole.

Proper noun

1. (archaic) China, Chinese

   More commonly found in compounds in modern Japanese.

2. a place name, such as that of Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 呉楽(くれがく) (kuregaku): gigaku, an extinct form of masked drama performance originally imported from China
• 呉竹(くれたけ) (kuretake): alternate name for 淡竹 (hachiku): henon bamboo, a form of Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo)
• 紅(くれない) (kurenai): crimson