弟

Translingual

Han character

Stroke order

弟 (Kangxi radical 57, 弓+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 金弓中竹 (CNLH), four-corner 8022₇, composition ⿹丿弚)

Derived characters

• 俤, 挮, 涕, 悌, 娣, 綈 (绨), 珶, 梯, 焍, 祶, 睇, 銻 (锑), 稊, 鮷, 豑, 豒, 剃, 鵜 (鹈), 晜, 罤, 鬀, 递

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 357, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9737
• Dae Jaweon: page 673, character 19
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 244, character 10
• Unihan data for U+5F1F

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		弟
alternative forms		𠂖

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 弟
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
梯	*tʰiːl
睇	*tʰiːl, *diːls
涕	*tʰiːlʔ, *tʰiːls
挮	*tʰiːlʔ
鬀	*tʰiːls, *diːls
剃	*tʰiːls
綈	*diːl
蕛	*diːl
稊	*diːl
苐	*diːl
鵜	*diːl
銻	*diːl
鮷	*diːl
罤	*diːl
弟	*diːlʔ, *diːls
娣	*diːlʔ, *diːls
悌	*diːlʔ, *diːls
第	*diːls

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 弟

1. younger brother
2. junior
3. (humble) I; me

Descendants

• (said by Chinese race)

References

• “Entry #3144”, 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.

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Japanese

Kanji

弟

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: だい (dai, Jōyō ^†)
• Kan-on: てい (tei, Jōyō)
• Kan’yō-on: で (de, Jōyō ^†)
• Kun: おと (oto, 弟); おとうと (otōto, 弟, Jōyō)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
弟
おと Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Cognate with the verb 劣る (otoru, “to be lesser, inferior”).

Alternative forms

• 乙

Noun

弟(おと) • (oto) 

1. a younger sibling

See also

• 劣(おと)る (otoru)

Etymology 2

弟 (otōto): the orange highlighting indicates the younger brother relative to all of the children to the left.

Kanji in this term
弟
おとうと Grade: 2
kun'yomi

/otopito/ → /otoɸito/ → /otowito/ → /*otowuto/ → /otouto/ → /otoːto/

Originally a compound of 弟 (oto, “younger sibling”) +‎ 人 (hito, “person”).

Noun

弟(おとうと) • (otōto) 

1. one’s own younger brother
2. a younger male

(alternative reading hiragana おとっ, rōmaji oto')

1. (Kagoshima) younger brother

Usage notes

Used when referring to one’s own younger brother. To refer to someone else’s younger brother, the suffixed form 弟さん (otōto-san) is used instead. When addressing one’s own younger brother, the given name is used, often with a suffix, such as 太郎君 (Tarō-kun). Contrast with addressing one’s own older brother, when one uses the honorific お兄さん (onīsan).

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Korean

Hanja

弟 • (je)

• Eumhun:
  • Sound (hangeul): 제
  • Name (hangeul): 아우
    (revised: au, McCune–Reischauer: au, Yale: awu)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 弟 (đệ, dễ)

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