瓜

See also: 爪

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

瓜 (Kangxi radical 97, 瓜+0, 5 strokes in Chinese, 6 strokes in Japanese, cangjie input 竹女戈人 (HVIO), four-corner 7223₀, composition ⿸𠂆⿰厶乀 or ⿻𤓰丶)

1. Kangxi radical #97, ⽠.

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/瓜
• 弧 狐 孤 蛌 瓣 𩂡

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 746, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 21371
• Dae Jaweon: page 1154, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2654, character 1
• Unihan data for U+74DC

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Chinese

trad.		瓜
simp. #		瓜
alternative forms		苽

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 瓜
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
瓜	*kʷraː
坬	*kʷraːs
窊	*qʷraː, *qʷraːs
畖	*qʷraː
搲	*qʷraːs
攨	*qʷraːs
孤	*kʷaː
苽	*kʷaː
胍	*kʷaː
泒	*kʷaː
呱	*kʷaː
觚	*kʷaː
柧	*kʷaː
罛	*kʷaː
軱	*kʷaː
菰	*kʷaː
箛	*kʷaː
狐	*ɡʷaː
弧	*ɡʷlaː

Pictogram (象形) - a pictograph of a melon suspended by its vines.

Etymology

Etymology not clear (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): guā (gua¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄚ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): gua¹

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): гуа (gua, I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwaa¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kôa
• Northern Min (KCR): guá
• Eastern Min (BUC): guă
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): koe / koa

  (Teochew, Peng'im): guê¹

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ko

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guā
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gua
    • Wade–Giles: kua¹
    • Yale: gwā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gua
    • Palladius: гуа (gua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯ä⁵⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: gua¹
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: gua
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kua⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: гуа (gua, I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kua²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gwaa¹
    • Yale: gwā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwaa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: gua¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷaː⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kôa
    • Hakka Romanization System: gua´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gua¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ku̯a²⁴/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: guá
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kua⁵⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: guă
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kua⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koe
    • Tâi-lô: kue
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koef
    • IPA (Quanzhou, Philippines): /kue³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kue⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koa
    • Tâi-lô: kua
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koaf
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kua⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kua³³/

Note:

• Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taiwan:
  • koe - vernacular;
  • koa - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: guê¹
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kue
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kue³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹ko
    • MiniDict: ko^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ko
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ko⁵³/

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 瓜
Mandarin	Beijing	/kua⁵⁵/
	Harbin	/kua⁴⁴/
	Tianjin	/kuɑ²¹/
	Jinan	/kua²¹³/
	Qingdao	/kua²¹³/
	Zhengzhou	/kua²⁴/
	Xi'an	/kua²¹/
	Xining	/kua⁴⁴/
	Yinchuan	/kua⁴⁴/
	Lanzhou	/kua³¹/
	Ürümqi	/kua⁴⁴/
	Wuhan	/kua⁵⁵/
	Chengdu	/kua⁵⁵/
	Guiyang	/kua⁵⁵/
	Kunming	/kua̠⁴⁴/
	Nanjing	/kuɑ³¹/
	Hefei	/kua²¹/
Jin	Taiyuan	/kua¹¹/
	Pingyao	/kuɑ¹³/
	Hohhot	/kua³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/ko⁵³/ /kua⁵³/
	Suzhou	/ko⁵⁵/
	Hangzhou	/kuɑ³³/
	Wenzhou	/kuo³³/
Hui	Shexian	/kua³¹/
	Tunxi	/kuːə¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/kua³³/
	Xiangtan	/kuɒ³³/
Gan	Nanchang	/kuɑ⁴²/
Hakka	Meixian	/kua⁴⁴/
	Taoyuan	/kuɑ²⁴/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/kwa⁵⁵/
	Nanning	/kʷa⁵⁵/
	Hong Kong	/kwa⁵⁵/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/kua⁵⁵/ /kue⁵⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/kua⁴⁴/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/kua⁵⁴/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/kue³³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/kue²³/

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• Middle Chinese: kwae

Rime
Character	瓜
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	麻 (99)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	古華切
Baxter	kwae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠua/
Pan Wuyun	/kʷᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/kua/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kwaɨ/
Li Rong	/kua/
Wang Li	/kwa/
Bernard Karlgren	/kwa/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	guā
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gwaa1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kʷˤra/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kʷraː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	瓜
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	guā
Middle Chinese	‹ kwæ ›
Old Chinese	/*kʷˁra/
English	melon, gourd
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	瓜
Reading #	1/1
No.	4340
Phonetic component	瓜
Rime group	魚
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	瓜
Old Chinese	/*kʷraː/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 瓜

1. melon; gourd; squash
2. (Cantonese, slang, humorous) to die
3. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) storyful news
4. a surname

Synonyms

• (to die):

(deprecated template usage)

• 下世 (xiàshì) (formal)
• 上天 (shàngtiān) (euphemistic)
• 上路 (shànglù) (euphemistic)
• 不在 (bùzài) (euphemistic)
• 不幸 (bùxìng) (Classical Chinese, euphemistic)
• 不祿／不禄 (bùlù) (archaic, euphemistic, of military officers)
• 亡
• 亡故 (wánggù) (literary)
• 仙逝 (xiānshì) (euphemistic)
• 仙遊／仙游 (xiānyóu) (euphemistic)
• 作古 (zuògǔ) (literary, euphemistic)
• 做鬼 (zuòguǐ) (colloquial)
• 傾世／倾世 (qīngshì) (literary)
• 傾亡／倾亡 (qīngwáng) (literary)
• 入寂 (rùjì) (Buddhism, of Buddhist monks)
• 凋謝／凋谢 (diāoxiè) (to die of old age)
• 化去 (huàqù) (euphemistic)
• 升天 (shēngtiān) (euphemistic)
• 即世 (jíshì) (literary)
• 去世 (qùshì)
• 合眼 (héyǎn) (euphemistic)
• 喪亡／丧亡 (sàngwáng) (literary)
• 喪命／丧命 (sàngmìng) (euphemistic)
• 喪生／丧生 (sàngshēng) (euphemistic)
• 嗚呼／呜呼 (wūhū) (euphemistic)
• 嗝屁 (gěpì) (Mandarin, vulgar, derogatory)
• 嚥氣／咽气 (yànqì) (colloquial)
• 回老家 (huí lǎojiā) (euphemistic, humorous)
• 圓寂／圆寂 (yuánjì) (of Buddhist monks or nuns)
• 壽終正寢／寿终正寝 (shòuzhōngzhèngqǐn) (euphemistic)
• 失氣／失气 (shīqì) (literary)
• 安息 (ānxī) (euphemistic)
• 安眠 (ānmián) (euphemistic)
• 小喇叭兒吹了／小喇叭儿吹了 (xiǎo lǎbār chuī le) (Beijing Mandarin)
• 就義／就义 (jiùyì) (to die a martyr)
• 崩 (bēng) (of a king, emperor, monarch, etc.)
• 崩殂 (bēngcú) (Classical, of a king, emperor, monarch, etc.)
• 彈老三／弹老三 (Northern Wu, informal, humorous)
• 往生 (wǎngshēng) (euphemistic)
• 忽然 (hūrán) (Classical Chinese, euphemistic)
• 掛／挂 (guà) (slang, humorous)
• 故 (gù)
• 故世 (gùshì) (euphemistic, chiefly of one's elders)
• 故去 (gùqù) (euphemistic, chiefly of one's elders)
• 斃命／毙命 (bìmìng) (pejorative)
• 早死 (zǎosǐ)
• 晏駕／晏驾 (yànjià) (of a king, emperor, monarch, etc.)
• 枯死 (kūsǐ) (literary, figurative)
• 棄世／弃世 (qìshì) (literary)
• 歸天／归天 (guītiān) (euphemistic)
• 歸西／归西 (guīxī) (euphemistic)
• 歸道山／归道山 (guī dàoshān) (literary, euphemistic)
• 死 (sǐ)
• 死亡 (sǐwáng) (formal)
• 死人 (sǐrén)
• 死去 (sǐqù) (informal)
• 死掉 (sǐdiào) (informal)
• 死翹翹／死翘翘 (sǐqiàoqiào) (informal, humorous)
• 死脫／死脱 (⁵shi-theq) (Wu)
• 殞／殒 (yǔn) (archaic)
• 氣絕／气绝 (qìjué) (literary)
• 永眠 (yǒngmián) (euphemistic, honorific)
• 沒世／没世 (mòshì) (literary)
• 沉眠 (chénmián) (euphemistic)
• 消忒 (Hakka, euphemistic)
• 物化 (wùhuà) (literary)
• 畢命／毕命 (bìmìng) (formal, euphemistic)
• 病亡 (bìngwáng) (to die of illness)
• 病故 (bìnggù) (to die of illness)
• 病死 (bìngsǐ) (to die of illness)
• 病逝 (bìngshì) (to die of illness)
• 百年歸老／百年归老 (bǎiniánguīlǎo) (euphemistic, of the elderly)
• 盡命／尽命 (jìnmìng) (literary, euphemistic)
• 終／终 (zhōng) (literary, or in compounds, euphemistic)
• 絕／绝 (jué) (literary, or in compounds)
• 翹辮子／翘辫子 (qiào biànzi) (informal, humorous)
• 老了 (lǎo le) (euphemistic, of the elderly)
• 蒙主寵召／蒙主宠召 (méngzhǔchǒngzhào) (euphemistic)
• 薨 (hōng) (Classical Chinese, of feudal lords or high officials)
• 薨逝 (hōngshì) (of feudal lords)
• 被難／被难 (bèinàn) (to be killed in a disaster, political incident, etc.)
• 見背／见背 (jiànbèi) (literary, of one's parents or elders)
• 見閻王／见阎王 (jiàn Yánwáng) (figurative)
• 賓天／宾天 (bīntiān) (of a king, emperor, monarch, etc.)
• 走 (zǒu) (euphemistic)
• 走去踮 (Hokkien, euphemistic)
• 身亡 (shēnwáng) (formal, usually from unnatural causes)
• 辭世／辞世 (císhì) (literary)
• 逝世 (shìshì)
• 進棺材／进棺材 (jìn guāncái)
• 過世／过世 (guòshì)
• 過去／过去 (guòqù) (euphemistic)
• 過往／过往 (Hokkien, euphemistic, Teochew, euphemistic)
• 過身／过身 (guòshēn) (literary)
• 過面／过面 (Hokkien)
• 長山賣鴨卵／长山卖鸭卵 (Hakka, euphemistic)
• 長眠／长眠 (chángmián) (euphemistic, honorific)
• 閉眼／闭眼 (bìyǎn) (euphemistic)
• 隕落／陨落 (yǔnluò) (euphemistic)
• 離世／离世 (líshì) (euphemistic)
• 駕崩／驾崩 (jiàbēng) (of a king, emperor, monarch, etc.)
• 駕鶴西去／驾鹤西去 (jiàhèxīqù) (euphemistic)
• 駕鶴西遊／驾鹤西游 (jiàhèxīyóu) (euphemistic)
• 龍馭上賓／龙驭上宾 (lóngyùshàngbīn) (of an emperor)

 

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

瓜

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. gourd, squash, melon

Readings

• Go-on: け (ke)^{←け (ke, historical)←くゑ (kwe, ancient)}
• Kan-on: か (ka)^{←くわ (kwa, historical)}
• Kun: うり (uri, 瓜)

Compounds

• 西(すい)瓜(か) (suika, “watermelon”)
• 南(なん)瓜(か) (nanka)
• 南瓜(カボチャ) (kabocha, “squash”)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
瓜
うり Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *ori. Found in the Man'yōshū, compiled some time after 759 CE.

Possibly derived as the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of classical verb 熟る (uru), modern form 熟れる (ureru, “to ripen”).

Possibly cognate with Korean 오이 (oi, “cucumber”); compare other terms in the Japonic family, such as Kikai 瓜 (ui) and Yoron 瓜 (ui).

Noun

瓜(うり) or 瓜(ウリ) • (uri) 

1. gourd, squash, melon

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ウリ.

Derived terms

• 胡瓜(きゅうり), 黄瓜(きゅうり) (kyūri, “cucumber”)

Idioms

Idioms

• 瓜(うり)の蔓(つる)には茄子(なすび)はならぬ (uri no tsuru ni wa nasubi wa naranu): “an eggplant won't grow on a gourd vine” → like father, like son, or the apple does not fall far from the tree
• 瓜(うり)を二(ふた)つに割(わ)ったよう (uri o futatsu ni watta yō), 瓜(うり)を二(ふた)つに割(わ)りたる如(ごと)し (uri o futatsu ni waritaru gotoshi): “like a gourd split in two” → like two peas in a pod
• 瓜二(うりふた)つ (uri futatsu): “two gourds” → like two peas in a pod
• 瓜(うり)を二(ふた)つに割(わ)らずそのまま (uri o futatsu ni warazu sono mama): “like a gourd that hasn't even been split in two” → like two peas in a pod, more emphatically

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Kikai

Kanji

瓜 (hiragana うい, romaji ui)

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese 瓜 (uri, “gourd, squash, melon”).

Noun

瓜 (hiragana うい, romaji ui)

1. gourd

Compounds

• 胡瓜 (きうい, kiui, “cucumber”)

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Korean

Hanja

瓜 (eumhun 오이 과 (oi gwa))

1. cucumber

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Miyako

Kanji

瓜 (hiragana うーㇲ゙, romaji ūz)

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese 瓜 (uri, “gourd, squash, melon”), possibly cognate with Korean 오이 (oi).

Noun

瓜 (hiragana うーㇲ゙, romaji ūz)

1. melon
2. gourd

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Okinawan

Kanji

瓜

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings

• Kun: うい (ui, 瓜)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
瓜
うい Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

Cognate with Japanese 瓜 (uri, “gourd, squash, melon”), possibly cognate with Korean 오이 (oi).

Noun

瓜(うい) (ui) 

1. melon
2. gourd

References

• “ウイ” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).

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Vietnamese

Han character

瓜: Hán Việt readings: qua
瓜: Nôm readings: qua, dưa, co

1. chữ Hán form of qua (“melon”).
2. Nôm form of dưa (“melon”).

Compounds

• 苦瓜 (khổ qua)

 

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Yoron

Kanji

瓜 (hiragana うい, romaji ui)

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese 瓜 (uri, “gourd, squash, melon”).

Noun

瓜 (hiragana うい, romaji ui)

1. cucumber, gourd