愛

See also: 爱

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

愛 (Kangxi radical 61, 心+9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月月心水 (BBPE), four-corner 2024₇, composition ⿳爫冖𢖻)

Derived characters

• 僾(𫣊), 噯(嗳), 嬡(嫒), 懓(𭞄), 曖(暧), 燰(𬊺), 璦(瑷), 皧, 瞹, 薆(𫉁), 鑀, 靉(叆), 鱫, 𣜬(𪳗), 𤻅, 𥖦, 𥣁, 𥴨(𫂖), 𦆔, 𦡝(𫆫), 𧓁, 𧞇, 𨙤, 𨣥, 𩡣(𩡖), 𪇈, 𪒱, 𭩊, 𮙀

Related characters

• 爱 (Simplified Chinese)

Descendants

• 𛀃 (Hentaigana)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 395, character 13
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10947
• Dae Jaweon: page 732, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2323, character 1
• Unihan data for U+611B

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Chinese

trad.		愛
simp.		爱
alternative forms		㤅 𢙴 𢛭 𢜤 𤔠 㤅 𢙴 𢛭 𢜤 𤔠 𤔤 𢟪 𢖻

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 愛
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script

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

	Old Chinese
愛	*qɯːds
曖	*qɯːds, *qaːds
僾	*qɯːds, *qɯlʔ
靉	*qɯːds, *qɯlʔ
薆	*qɯːds
璦	*qɯːds
瞹	*qaːds

Originally 㤅, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯːds) : phonetic 旡 (OC *kɯds) + semantic 心 (“heart”).

As early as the Qin dynasty, a meaningless component 夊 (“foot”) was added to the bottom of the character, as with some other characters depicting people. Compare 憂 (from 㥑).

Further corruption turned the original phonetic 旡 into ⿱爫冖.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋ-(w)aːj (“to copulate; to love; to be gentle”) (STEDT). Compare Proto-Karen *ʔai (“to love”), whence Pa'o Karen [script needed] (ʔái, “to love”), S'gaw Karen အဲၣ် (ʼeh̀, “to love”); Southern Bai e⁴⁴ (“love”); Mizo hma-ngaih (“to love, to like”); Jingpho nwai (“to respect, to love”), ngwi (“to be gentle”); Burmese [script needed] (ŋwé, “to be gentle, moderate”). The Chinese word is related to a Tibeto-Burman allofam without initial *ŋ-.

Definitions

愛

(deprecated template usage) 愛

1. to love

   我愛你。／我爱你。  ―  Wǒ ài nǐ.  ―  I love you.

   你愛他嗎？／你爱他吗？  ―  Nǐ ài tā ma?  ―  Do you love him?

2. to treasure; to value
3. to like; to be fond of; to be keen on

   他愛說話。／他爱说话。  ―  Tā ài shuōhuà.  ―  He likes to talk.

   我不愛吃豬肉。／我不爱吃猪肉。  ―  Wǒ bù ài chī zhūròu.  ―  I don't like to eat pork.

4. to be prone; to be easy to

   愛發脾氣／爱发脾气  ―  ài fāpíqì  ―  to be short-tempered

   鐵愛生鏽。／铁爱生锈。  ―  Tiě ài shēngxiù.  ―  Iron rusts easily.

5. love; affection

   愛國／爱国  ―  ài guó  ―  patriotism

6. love; benevolence

   遺愛人間／遗爱人间  ―  yí'àirénjiān  ―  to leave love behind

7. something one loves; someone whom one loves

   割愛／割爱  ―  gē'ài  ―  to sacrifice something one loves to someone else

8. Honorific for someone else's daughter; variant of 嬡／嫒 (ài).

   令愛／令爱  ―  lìng'ài  ―  your precious daughter

9. affectionate

   愛情／爱情  ―  àiqíng  ―  love

10. beloved

    愛妻／爱妻  ―  àiqī  ―  beloved wife

11. (Cantonese, Hakka, Wu) to want (an object)

    我唔愛咁多。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    我唔爱咁多。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    ngo⁵ m⁴ oi³ gam³ do¹. [Jyutping]

    I don't want that much.

12. (Hakka, Min) to want (to do)
13. (Hakka, Min) to need to; must

    有一點愛注意的。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
    有一点爱注意的。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

    Ū chi̍t tiám ài chù-ì--ê. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

    There's one thing you must bear in mind.

14. a surname

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 喜歡 (“to like”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		好, 喜好, 愛好, 字
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		喜歡, 喜愛, 喜好, 愛好
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	喜歡, 好希, 稀罕, 愛
	Taiwan	喜歡, 愛
	Malaysia	喜歡
	Singapore	喜歡
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	喜歡
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	喜歡, 愛
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	喜歡, 歡喜, 愛
	Chongqing	喜歡, 歡喜
	Wuhan	喜歡, 愛
	Guilin	喜歡
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	歡喜
	Hefei	喜歡
Cantonese	Guangzhou	中意, 歡喜
	Hong Kong	中意, 好
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	中意
	Macau	中意
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	中意
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	中意
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	中意
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	中意
	Foshan	中意
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	中意
	Foshan (Shunde)	中意
	Foshan (Sanshui)	中意
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	中意
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	歡喜, 中意
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	中意
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	中意
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	中意
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	中意
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	中意
	Taishan	中意
	Kaiping (Chikan)	爽心, 中意
	Enping (Niujiang)	中意
	Heshan (Yayao)	中意
	Dongguan	中意
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	中意
	Yangjiang	中意, 歡喜
	Beihai	中意
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	中意
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	中意, 喜歡
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	中意
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	中意, 蘇格
	Singapore (Guangfu)	中意
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	中意
	Móng Cái	中意
Gan	Nanchang	歡喜
Hakka	Meixian	中意, 好
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	中意
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	中意
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	中意
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	中意
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	歡喜
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	中意, 好
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	中意, 好
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	中意, 好
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	中意, 合意, 好
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	中意, 好
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	佮意, 愛
	Senai (Huiyang)	中意
	Kuching (Hepo)	蘇格
Huizhou	Jixi	喜歡, 歡喜
Jin	Taiyuan	喜歡, 待見
Northern Min	Jian'ou	愛, 喜歡
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	歡喜, 中意, 愛
Southern Min	Xiamen	歡喜, 意愛, 愛, 佮意, 舒合
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	佮意
	Quanzhou	歡喜, 意愛, 愛, 佮意
	Shishi	佮意
	Zhangzhou	歡喜, 愛, 佮意
	Tainan	佮意, 意愛, 愛
	Penang (Hokkien)	舒合, 愛
	Singapore (Hokkien)	舒合, 愛
	Manila (Hokkien)	愛, 佮意
	Chaozhou	歡喜, 愛, 喜歡
	Shantou	歡喜
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	好, 尚, 喜歡
	Jieyang	歡喜, 愛, 好, 尚, 喜歡
	Puning	愛, 癮2, 尚, 喜歡
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	喜歡
	Singapore (Teochew)	舒合
	Wenchang	歡喜
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	中意
Waxiang	Guzhang (Gaofeng)	字
Wu	Shanghai	歡喜
	Suzhou	歡喜
	Ningbo	歡喜, 看相, 中意 dated
	Wenzhou	喜歡
Xiang	Changsha	喜歡
	Shuangfeng	喜歡

Usage notes

• When used for people, 愛／爱 usually refers to romantic love. When used like this, older Mandarin speakers often describe the use of this term as overly 肉麻 (ròumá, “cheesy”). For this reason, the word 喜歡／喜欢 (xǐhuan, “to like”) might be used instead. Using the word 喜歡／喜欢 (xǐhuan) literally means like, but when used in a romantic context (especially boyfriend/girlfriend), it actually means love. However, younger Mandarin speakers seem to have been influenced somewhat by Western culture, and are now using the verb 愛／爱 much more often than was socially acceptable in the past.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (愛):

• → Japanese: 愛(あい) (ai)
• → Korean: 애(愛) (ae)
• → Vietnamese: ái (愛)

Further reading

• “Entry #9456”, 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

愛

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: あい (ai, Jōyō); お (o)
• Kan-on: あい (ai, Jōyō)
• Kun: いつくしむ (itsukushimu, 愛しむ); いとしい (itoshii, 愛しい); いとおしむ (itooshimu, 愛おしむ); おしむ (oshimu, 愛しむ); まな (mana, 愛); めでる (mederu, 愛でる)
• Nanori: あ (a); あい (ai); あし (ashi); え (e); かな (kana); なる (naru); めぐ (megu); めぐみ (megumi); よし (yoshi); ちか (chika)

Compounds

Compounds

• 愛(あい)玩(がん) (aigan)
• 愛(あい)機(き) (aiki)
• 愛(あい)敬(きょう) (aikyō)
• 愛(あい)顧(こ) (aiko)
• 愛(あい)護(ご) (aigo)
• 愛(あい)国(こく) (aikoku)
• 愛(あい)妻(さい) (aisai, “one's beloved wife”)
• 愛(あい)児(じ) (aiji)
• 愛(あい)車(しゃ) (aisha, “one's beloved car”)
• 愛(あい)社(しゃ) (aisha)
• 愛(あい)唱(しょう) (aishō)
• 愛(あい)称(しょう) (aishō)
• 愛(あい)人(じん) (aijin)
• 愛(あい)想(そう) (aisō)
• 愛(あい)憎(ぞう) (aizō)
• 愛(あい)着(ちゃく) (aichaku, “affection (to things)”)
• 愛(あい)鳥(ちょう) (aichō)
• 愛(あい)読(どく) (aidoku, “loving to read”)
• 愛(あい)用(よう) (aiyō, “loving to use”)
• 性(せい)愛(あい) (seiai, “eros”)
• 聖(せい)愛(あい) (seiai, “pure love”)
• 寵(ちょう)愛(あい) (chōai)
• 可愛(かわい)い (kawaii)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
愛
あい Grade: 4
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 愛 (MC 'ojH).

Compare modern Mandarin 愛／爱 (ài).

Noun

愛(あい) • (ai) 

1. love

   愛(あい)は強(つよ)く。

   Ai wa tsuyoku.

   The love is strong.

2. affection

   Synonym: 愛情 (aijō)

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

   Synonym: 愛想 (aiso)

5. (Buddhism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
6. (Christianity) agape

Synonyms

• (love, generally more passionate or erotic): 恋(こい) (koi), 恋愛(れんあい) (ren'ai)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 愛(あい)する (aisuru, “to love”)
• 愛(あい)らしい (airashii, “lovely”)
• 愛(あい)してる (aishiteru, “I love you”)
• 愛(あい)をする (ai o suru)
• 屋(おく)烏(う)の愛(あい) (okū no ai)

Proper noun

愛(あい) • (Ai) 

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
愛
まな Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Originally a compound of 真 (ma, “true, genuine”) +‎ な (na), an Old Japanese version of modern Japanese の (no, possessive particle).

The use of 愛 here is an example of ateji (当て字).

Alternative forms

• 真

Prefix

愛(まな) • (mana-) 

1. before a common noun, expresses a sense of admiration or value: good, genuine; compare English the real deal
2. before a noun describing a person, expresses praise or fondness: dear, beloved

Derived terms

• 愛(まな)弟子(でし) (manadeshi)
• 愛(まな)娘(むすめ) (manamusume)

Noun

愛(まな) • (mana) 

1. (archaic, derived from prefix sense) something dear or loved

Proper noun

愛(まな) • (Mana) 

1. a female given name

Etymology 3

Used as ateji in various names. 愛 is a very common element in many, many names.

Proper noun

愛(あづみ) or 愛(ああい) or 愛(あいか) or 愛(あいす) or 愛(あき) or 愛(あこ) or 愛(あみか) or 愛(あおい) or 愛(ありさ) or 愛(あや) or 愛(あゆ) or 愛(ちぎり) or 愛(ちか) or 愛(ちかし) or 愛(えりな) or 愛(はあと) or 愛(ひかり) or 愛(いと) or 愛(いとし) or 愛(いつみ) or 愛(いずみ) or 愛(かな) or 愛(かなえ) or 愛(かなさ) or 愛(きずな) or 愛(こころ) or 愛(このむ) or 愛(まどか) or 愛(まなぶ) or 愛(まなみ) or 愛(めづる) or 愛(めご) or 愛(めぐ) or 愛(めぐみ) or 愛(めぐむ) or 愛(めい) or 愛(なる) or 愛(なるこ) or 愛(のぞみ) or 愛(らぶ) or 愛(るい) or 愛(さら) or 愛(さらん) or 愛(つぐみ) or 愛(つくみ) or 愛(うい) or 愛(よし) or 愛(よしき) or 愛(よしみ) • (Azumi or Āi or Aika or Aisu or Aki or Ako or Amika or Aoi or Arisa or Aya or Ayu or Chigiri or Chika or Chikashi or Erina or Hāto or Hikari or Ito or Itoshi or Itsumi or Izumi or Kana or Kanae or Kanasa or Kizuna or Kokoro or Konomu or Madoka or Manabu or Manami or Mezuru or Mego or Megu or Megumi or Megumu or Mei or Naru or Naruko or Nozomi or Rabu or Rui or Sara or Saran or Tsugumi or Tsukumi or Ui or Yoshi or Yoshiki or Yoshimi) 

1. a female given name

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Korean

Hanja

愛 (eumhun 사랑 애 (sarang ae))

1. hanja form^? of 애 (“love”)

Compounds

• 가애 (可愛, gaae)
• 경애 (敬愛, gyeong'ae)
• 동성애 (同性愛, dongseong'ae)
• 무성애 (無性愛, museong'ae)
• 애견 (愛犬, aegyeon)
• 애고 (愛顧, aego)
• 애교 (愛嬌, aegyo)
• 애국 (愛國, aeguk)
• 애독 (愛讀, aedok)
• 애마 (愛馬, aema)
• 애무 (愛撫, aemu)
• 애식 (愛息, aesik)
• 애완동물 (愛玩動物, aewandongmul)
• 애인 (愛人, aein)
• 애장판 (愛藏版, aejangpan)
• 애정 (愛情, aejeong)
• 애증 (愛憎, aejeung)
• 애차 (愛車, aecha)
• 애착 (愛着, aechak)
• 애처 (愛妻, aecheo)
• 애칭 (愛稱, aeching)
• 애호 (愛好, aeho)
• 애호 (愛護, aeho)
• 이성애 (異性愛, iseong'ae)
• 자기애 (自己愛, jagiae)
• 친애 (親愛, chinae)
• 할애 (割愛, harae)

 

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Okinawan

Kanji

愛

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

• Kun: かなさん (kanasan, 愛さん)

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Old Japanese

Alternative forms

• 眞

Etymology

Originally a compound of 眞 (ma, “true, genuine”) +‎ な (na, apophonic form of possessive particle の (no₂)).

Noun

愛 (mana) (kana まな)

1. something dear or loved
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3462:

     安志比奇乃夜末佐波妣登乃比登佐波爾麻奈登伊布児我安夜爾可奈思佐

     asi-pi₁ki₂ no₂ yamasapabi₁to₂ no₂ pi₁to₂ sapa ni mana to₂ ipu ko₁ ga aya ni kanasisa

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• 愛子 (manago₁)
• 愛娘 (manamusume₁)

Descendants

• Japanese: 愛 (mana-)

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Vietnamese

Han character

愛: Hán Việt readings: ái, áy
愛: Nôm readings: ái, áy, ải

1. chữ Hán form of ái (“love”).
2. Nôm form of áy (“troubled; anxious”).

Compounds

• 可愛 (khả ái)
• 愛乃 (áy náy)
• 愛情 (ái tình)