無形

See also: 无形

Chinese

		not have	to appear; to look; form to appear; to look; form; shape
trad. (無形)		無	形
simp. (无形)		无	形

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wúxíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄒㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ jing⁴
• Min Nan (POJ): bû-hêng / bô-hêng

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wúxíng
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄒㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúsíng
    • Wade–Giles: wu²-hsing²
    • Yale: wú-syíng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wushyng
    • Palladius: усин (usin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ ɕiŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: mou⁴ jing⁴
    • Yale: mòuh yìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ jing⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ ying⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ jɪŋ²¹/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 模型 模形 無形／无形

• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bû-hêng
    • Tâi-lô: bû-hîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bu'heeng
    • IPA (Taipei): /bu²⁴⁻¹¹ hiɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou): /bu²⁴⁻²² hiɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bu²³⁻³³ hiɪŋ²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bu¹³⁻²² hiɪŋ¹³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-hêng
    • Tâi-lô: bô-hîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: boi'heeng
    • IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ hiɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ hiɪŋ²³/

Adjective

無形

1. (attributive) invisible; intangible; formless

Antonyms

• 有形 (yǒuxíng)

Derived terms

• 無形中／无形中 (wúxíngzhōng)
• 無形損耗／无形损耗
• 無形貿易／无形贸易

• 無形資產／无形资产 (wúxíng zīchǎn)
• 無形輸出／无形输出

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
無	形
む Grade: 4	ぎょう Grade: 2
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese compound 無形／无形 (mju heng, literally “without shape”). The goon, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) むぎょー [mùgyóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝɡʲo̞ː]

Noun

無(む)形(ぎょう) • (mugyō) ^{←むぎやう (mugyau)?}

1. (Buddhism): formlessness, bodylessness; something that is shapeless and invisible

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
無	形
む Grade: 4	けい Grade: 2
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese compound 無形／无形 (mju heng, literally “without shape”). A combined reading, using the goon for 無 (mu) but the kan'on for 形 (kei), so this reading likely represents a later development in Japan.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) むけー [mùkéé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝke̞ː]

Noun

無(む)形(けい) • (mukei) 

1. formlessness, shapelessness, invisibility, intangibility, incorporeality

   無形(むけい)の力(ちから)、無形(むけい)固定資産(こていしさん)

   mukei no chikara, mukei kotei shisan

   an invisible force, intangible fixed assets

Antonyms

• 有形(ゆうけい) (yūkei): tangible, having a shape or form

See also

• 無見(むけん) (muken): the belief that everything in this world is null and void, without substance

References

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan