困

困 U+56F0, 困 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-56F0 ← 囯 [U+56EF] CJK Unified Ideographs 囱 → [U+56F1]

See also: 睏

Translingual

Han character

困 (radical 31 囗+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 田木 (WD) or X田木 (XWD), four-corner 6090₄, composition ⿴囗木)

Derived characters

• 梱

References

• KangXi: page 217, character 20
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4717
• Dae Jaweon: page 445, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 714, character 7
• Unihan data for U+56F0

---

Chinese

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (困) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
	Old Chinese
硱	*kʰɯŋ, *kʰuːnʔ
梱	*ŋɡuːn, *kʰuːnʔ
捆	*kʰuːnʔ
綑	*kʰuːnʔ
閫	*kʰuːnʔ
悃	*kʰuːnʔ
稛	*kʰuːnʔ
裍	*kʰuːnʔ
齫	*kʰuːnʔ
困	*kʰuːns
涃	*kʰuːns

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 囗 (“surround”) + 木 (“wood”). Probably the original form of 梱 (OC *ŋɡuːn, *kʰuːnʔ, “doorsill”) and 閫 (OC *kʰuːnʔ, “doorsill”).

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		困

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kùn (kun⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄣˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kwan³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): khun
• Min Dong (BUC): kóng
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): khùn

  (Teochew, Peng'im): kung³

• Wu (Wiktionary): khun (T2)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: kùn
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄣˋ
    • Wade-Giles: k'un⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuenn
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯ən⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: kwan³
    • Yale: kwan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kwan³
    • Guangdong Romanization: kuen³
    • IPA ^(key): /kʷʰɐn³³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khun
    • Hakka Romanization System: kun
    • Hagfa Pinyim: kun⁴
    • IPA: /kʰun⁵⁵/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: kóng
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰouŋ²¹³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khùn
    • Tâi-lô: khùn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: quxn
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kʰun²¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰun⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰun²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kʰun¹¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰun²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: kung³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khùng
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰuŋ²¹³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: khun (T2)
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰɯə̯ɲ³⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: /kʰuən^H/▼

Rime
Character	困
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	溪 (29)
Final (韻)	魂 (55)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	苦悶切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kʰuənH/
Pan Wuyun	/kʰuonH/
Shao Rongfen	/kʰuənH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kʰwənH/
Li Rong	/kʰuənH/
Wang Li	/kʰuənH/
Bernard Karlgren	/kʰuənH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	kùn

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*kʰˤu[n]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kʰuːns/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	困
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	kùn
Middle Chinese	‹ khwonH ›
Old Chinese	/*kʰˤu[n]-s/
English	obstruct; distress
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	困
Reading #	1/1
No.	7554
Phonetic component	困
Rime group	文
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	困
Old Chinese	/*kʰuːns/

Definitions

困

1. to surround; to besiege
2. to be surrounded
3. difficult
4. 47th hexagram of the I Ching

Compounds

Derived terms from 困

• 上下交困
• 乏困 (fákùn)
• 交困
• 人困馬乏／人困马乏 (rénkùn-mǎfá)
• 偃蹇困窮／偃蹇困穷
• 內外交困／内外交困
• 兵疲馬困／兵疲马困
• 力困筋乏
• 勞困／劳困
• 受困
• 困乏 (kùnfá)
• 困人
• 困住
• 困倦
• 困厄 (kùn'è)
• 困境 (kùnjìng)
• 困學／困学
• 困守
• 困局
• 困心衡慮／困心衡虑
• 困惑 (kùnhuò)
• 困憊／困惫
• 困擾／困扰 (kùnrǎo)
• 困歇
• 困滯／困滞
• 困獸／困兽

• 困獸之鬥／困兽之斗
• 困獸猶鬥／困兽犹斗
• 困畏
• 困知勉行
• 困窘 (kùnjiǒng)
• 困窮／困穷
• 困苦 (kùnkǔ)
• 困處／困处
• 困處泥塗／困处泥涂
• 困覺／困觉
• 困話／困话
• 困蹙
• 困躓／困踬
• 困阨
• 困阻
• 困隘
• 困難／困难 (kùnnan)
• 困頓／困顿 (kùndùn)
• 困騰騰／困腾腾
• 困鬥／困斗
• 國困民艱／国困民艰
• 國窮民困／国穷民困
• 圍困／围困 (wéikùn)
• 坐困
• 坐困愁城
• 孱困

• 形疲神困
• 急人之困
• 扶危救困
• 扶危濟困／扶危济困
• 救困扶危 (jiù kùn fúwēi)
• 昏困
• 春困
• 春困秋乏
• 潛蛟困鳳／潜蛟困凤
• 濟困扶危／济困扶危
• 疲困 (píkùn)
• 皮困秋
• 禽困覆車／禽困覆车
• 窘困
• 窮困／穷困
• 紓困／纾困
• 肚困
• 脫困／脱困
• 艱困／艰困
• 解困 (jiěkùn)
• 貧困／贫困 (pínkùn)
• 軟困／软困
• 酒困
• 顛連困苦／颠连困苦
• 飢困／饥困
• 龍困淺灘／龙困浅滩

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 困 – see 睏. (This character, 困, is the simplified form of 睏.)

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

---

Japanese

Kanji

困

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Readings

• On: こん (kon)
• Kun: こまる (komaru), くるしむ (kurushimu)

---

Korean

Hanja

困 • (gon) (hangeul 곤)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

---

Vietnamese

Han character

困 (khốn, khuôn)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.