龍

See also: 龙 and 竜

Translingual

Stroke order

Traditional	龍
Shinjitai	竜
Simplified	龙

Alternative forms

• ⿓ (U+2FD3, Kangxi radical)

Han character

龍 (Kangxi radical 212, 龍+0, 16 strokes, cangjie input 卜月卜尸心 (YBYSP), four-corner 0121₁, composition ⿰𦚏⿱⺊⿷己三)

1. Kangxi radical #212, ⿓.
2. Shuowen Jiezi radical №427

Derived characters

• 瀧, 爖, 瓏, 朧, 儱, 嚨, 壠, 巄, 徿, 攏, 曨, 櫳, 矓, 礲, 蠬, 襱, 豅, 贚, 躘, 鑨, 隴, 龓, 䆍, 䌬, 䏊, 䡁, 䪊, 䮾
• 𢤱, 𤜆, 𤳽, 𦢫, 𦪽, 𧲖, 𨏠, 𨳁, 𩟭, 𪐖, 𪚒, 𪚓, 𪚖, 𪚗, 𪚘, 𪚝, 𫜱, 𫲘, 𮙇, 𣰵, 𧾪, 𩙘, 𪈗, 𪚤, 𫑰, 𫦞, 𫿤, 𪚚, 𦒮, 龖, 𪚟
• 寵, 巃, 竉, 籠, 蘢, 靇, 龕, 龗, 䶬, 𠖥, 𦌼, 𩰀, 𪔷, 𪚕, 𪚙, 𪚡, 𪚣, 𫅍, 𡃡, 𡾩, 𢤲, 𢸭, 𤮨, 𦪿, 𨇘, 𪎁, 𪚑, 𪚔, 𪚛, 𪚜, 𪚞, 𪚠, 𪚢, 𮯚
• 聾, 襲, 龔, 壟, 礱, 蠪, 讋, 驡, 鸗, 龏, 龑, 龒, 㰍, 龘, 龎, 龐, 𤼃

Related characters

• 竜 (Japanese shinjitai, also an ancient form of 龍)
• 龙 (Simplified Chinese)

Further reading

Wikisource

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1536, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 48818
• Dae Jaweon: page 2076, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4803, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9F8D

• Unihan data for U+F9C4

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Chinese

trad.		龍
simp.		龙
alternative forms		㡣 䮾／𩧪 䰱 竜 龒 㡣 䮾／𩧪 䰱 竜 龒 𠉒 𠊋 𢀀 𢄫 𢅛 𥪐 𥪑 𥪖 𥪢 𥫆 𥫈 𦱉 𦱸

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 龍
Shang		Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
驡	*ʔslaːŋʔ, *roŋ
龐	*broːŋ
瀧	*rroːŋ, *sroːŋ, *roːŋ
籠	*roːŋ, *roːŋʔ, *roŋ
豅	*roːŋ
朧	*roːŋ, *roŋs
龓	*roːŋ, *roːŋʔ
聾	*roːŋ
礱	*roːŋ, *roːŋs
嚨	*roːŋ
蘢	*roːŋ, *roŋ
櫳	*roːŋ
襱	*roːŋ, *roːŋʔ, *r'oŋʔ
瓏	*roːŋ
曨	*roːŋ, *roːŋʔ
鸗	*roːŋ, *roŋ
蠪	*roːŋ
巃	*roːŋʔ
竉	*roːŋʔ
攏	*roːŋʔ
儱	*roːŋʔ, *roŋs
龍	*b·roŋ, *mroːŋ
躘	*roŋ, *roŋs
隴	*roŋʔ
壠	*roŋʔ
壟	*roŋʔ
寵	*r̥ʰoŋʔ
龏	*kloŋ, *kloŋs, *qroːɡ

Pictogram (象形) – originally a serpent with prominent whiskered mouth and eyes.

Current form developed in large seal script, with serpent’s body on right (tail at upper right, legs on right), whiskered/fanged mouth at lower left, and eyes/crown at upper left. Left side was subsequently simplified and abstracted, with some influence of 立 and ⺼/月. Note that 竜 existed as a traditional variant dating back to large seal script, and figures a dragon seen face-on, rather than curled around.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-bru(ŋ/k) (“dragon; thunder”). Cognate with Tibetan འབྲུག ('brug, “dragon; thunder”). The STEDT database also lists 隆 (OC *ɡ·ruːŋ, “thunder; sound of thunder”) and 雹 (OC *bruːɡ, “hail”) as cognates. Also compare 靐 (OC *brɯŋs, “sound of thunder”) and 霹靂 (OC *pʰeːɡ reːɡ, “thunder”).

This word is found in many languages of the region. Compare Proto-Hmong-Mien *-roŋ (“dragon”) (White Hmong zaj), Proto-Vietic *-roːŋ (“dragon”) (Vietnamese rồng), Vietnamese thuồng luồng (“serpent-like monster”), Khmer រោង (roong, “year of the dragon”), Thai มะโรง (má-roong, “dragon; year of the dragon”), Lao ມະໂລງ (ma lōng, “year of the dragon”), perhaps also Old Turkic [script needed] (*-lan, suffix denoting a wild, predatory animal) (Turkish aslan (“lion”), kaplan (“tiger”), yılan (“snake”)).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 龍

1. (mythology) Chinese dragon
2. (mythology) Western dragon
3. (figurative) emperor; sovereign; king; of the emperor
4. (figurative) chief; hero; towering figure
5. (by extension) dragon-shaped object; long object
6. (by extension) dragon-adorned object
7. (zoology, paleontology) extinct reptilian creature; -saur

   恐龍／恐龙  ―  kǒnglóng  ―  dinosaur

   翼手龍／翼手龙  ―  yìshǒulóng  ―  pterodactyl

8. (Eastern Min) to become clear-minded; to be revitalised
9. (Cantonese, soccer and other sports) goal
10. a surname

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (龍):

• → Japanese: 竜(りゅう) (ryū)
• → Korean: 룡>용(龍) (ryong>yong)
• → Vietnamese: long (龍)

Others:

• → Mongolian: луу (luu)

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Shinjitai	竜
Kyūjitai	龍

Kanji

龍

(Jinmeiyō kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 竜)

Readings

• Go-on: りゅう (ryū)^{←りゆう (ryuu, historical)}
• Kan-on: りょう (ryō)^{←りよう (ryou, historical)}
• Kan’yō-on: ろう (rō)^{←ろう (rou, historical)}
• Kun: たつ (tatsu, 龍)
• Nanori: かみ (kami); きみ (kimi); しげみ (shigemi); とお (tō); とおる (tōru); めぐむ (megumu)

Compounds

Compounds

• 龍(りゅう)門(もん) (Ryūmon)
• 龍(リン)胆(ドウ) (rindō)
• 九(きゅう)龍(りゅう) (Kyūryū)
• 烏(ウー)龍(ロン)茶(ちゃ) (ūroncha)
• 石(ト)龍(カ)子(ゲ) (tokage)
• 飛(ペー)龍(ロン) (pēron)
• 土龍(モグラ) (mogura)

Usage notes

• This kanji is the 旧字体 (kyūjitai) form of simplified 竜, itself as isolated 新字体 (shinjitai) kanji, but is used in Jōyō characters 襲 and 籠, with the latter categorized as Jōyō as of 2010.
• Although it is officially simplified into 竜, 龍 is often used instead for certain words for its aesthetics (such as in literary contexts or for spelling words borrowed from Chinese). For example, 烏龍茶 (ūroncha, “oolong tea”) is rarely spelled as 烏竜茶.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
龍
りゅう Jinmeiyō
goon

Alternative spelling
竜

From Middle Chinese 龍 (MC ljowng).

The 呉音 (goon, literally “Wu sound”) reading, so likely the initial borrowing from Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

• Some dictionaries classify this reading as 慣用音 (kanyōon, literally “commonly-accepted sound”) instead of 呉音 (goon).

Noun

1. a Chinese dragon
2. Synonym of ドラゴン (doragon): a Western dragon
3. (shogi, colloquial) Short for 龍王 (ryūō): dragon king; a promoted 角行 (kakugyō, “bishop”) that has the moves of both kakugyō and 王将 (ōshō)/玉将 (gyokushō)
4. a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with a Chinese dragon design

Derived terms

• 龍(りゅう)王(おう) (ryūō)
• 龍(りゅう)胆(たん) (ryūtan)

Affix

1. dragon
2. hero
3. imperial
4. dinosaur

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 龍(りゅう)顔(がん) (ryūgan)
• 龍(りゅう)宮(ぐう) (ryūgū)
• 龍(りゅう)車(しゃ) (ryūsha)
• 龍(りゅう)象(ぞう) (ryūzō)
• 龍(りゅう)頭(とう) (ryūtō)
• 龍(りゅう)攘(じょう)虎(こ)搏(はく) (ryūjōkohaku)
• 龍(りゅう)馬(ま) (ryūma)
• 龍(りゅう)馬(め) (ryūme)
• 剣(けん)龍(りゅう) (kenryū)
• 天(てん)龍(りゅう) (tenryū)
• 土(ど)龍(りゅう) (doryū)
• 独(どく)眼(がん)龍(りゅう) (Dokuganryū)
• 翼(よく)龍(りゅう) (yokuryū)
• 雷(らい)龍(りゅう) (rairyū)

Proper noun

1. (astronomy) Short for りゅう座 (Ryūza): the constellation Draco
2. a male given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
龍
りょう Jinmeiyō
kan'on

Alternative spelling
竜

From Middle Chinese 龍 (MC ljowng).

The 漢音 (kan'on, literally “Han sound”) reading, so likely a later borrowing from Middle Chinese.

Noun

1. (rare or in Chinese contexts) a Chinese dragon

Affix

1. dragon
2. hero
3. imperial

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 龍(りょう)駕(が) (ryōga)
• 龍(りょう)顔(がん) (ryōgan)
• 龍(りょう)姿(し) (ryōshi)
• 龍(りょう)攘(じょう)虎(こ)搏(はく) (ryōjōkohaku)
• 龍(りょう)頭(とう) (ryōtō)
• 龍(りょう)馬(ば) (ryōba)
• 龍(りょう)馬(め) (ryōme)
• 臥(が)龍(りょう) (garyō)
• 画(が)龍(りょう) (garyō)
• 亢(こう)龍(りょう) (kōryō)
• 潜(せん)龍(りょう) (senryō)
• 屠(と)龍(りょう) (toryō)
• 白(はく)龍(りょう) (hakuryō)
• 飛(ひ)龍(りょう) (hiryō)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
龍
たつ Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
竜

⟨tatu⟩ → /tat͡su/

From Old Japanese.

Noun

1. (mythology) a Japanese dragon
   • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 19:

     龍　文字集略云：「龍（力鍾反。和名：太都）四足五采甚有神靈者也。」白虎通云：「鱗虫三百六十六而龍爲之長也。」

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 辰(たつ) (tatsu)
• 龍(たつ)頭(がしら) (tatsugashira)
• 龍(たつ)田(た) (Tatsuta)
• 龍(たつ)巻(まき) (tatsumaki)

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Korean

Hanja

Wikisource

龍 (eumhun 용 룡 (yong ryong), word-initial (South Korea) 용 용 (yong yong))

1. hanja form^? of 룡/용 (“dragon”)

Usage notes

This hanja is spelled 용 (yong) in South Korea due to 두음 법칙 (頭音法則, dueum beopchik).

Compounds

Compounds

• 용문/룡문 (龍門, yongmun/ryongmun, “dragon gate”)
• 용왕/룡왕 (龍王, yong'wang/ryong'wang, “dragon king”)
• 용산 (龍山, Yongsan, “Yongsan city”)
• 용인 (龍仁, Yong'in, “Yongin city”)
• 용대 (龍台, Yongdae, “Yongdae Gap”)
• 어룡 (魚龍, eoryong, “ichthyosaur”)
• 익룡 (翼龍, ingnyong, “pterosaur”)
• 공룡 (恐龍, gongnyong, “dinosaur”)
• 청룡 (靑龍, cheongnyong, “green dragon”)
• 용수철/룡수철 (龍鬚鐵, yongsucheol/ryongsucheol, “spring”)
• 용설란/룡설란 (龍舌蘭, yongseollan/ryongseollan, “agave; century plant”)
• 등용문 (登龍門, deung'yongmun, “gateway”)
• 흑룡강 (黑龍江, Heungnyonggang, “Amur river”)
• 용두사미/룡두사미 (龍頭蛇尾, yongdusami/ryongdusami, “anticlimax (literally dragon head and snake tail)”)

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Old Japanese

Etymology

Possibly from the verb 立つ (tatu, “to rise, stand”).

Noun

龍 (tatu) (kana)

1. a Japanese dragon

Descendants

• Japanese: 竜, 龍 (tatsu)

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Pai-lang

Etymology

Coblin, reconstructing the Pai-lang pronunciation as *gljung, suggests that it derives from and retains its consonant cluster, which was lost in Proto-Lolo-Burmese. Compare Tibetan ལྗོངས (ljongs), Chinese 谷 (OC *kloːɡ).

Noun

1. gorge

References

• W. South Coblin, "A New Study of the Pai-lang Songs" (1979), Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, 12:179–216
• Christopher I. Beckwith, "The Pai-lang songs: The earliest texts in a Tibeto-Burman language and their Late Old Chinese transcriptions" (2008), in Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages III

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Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• 竜 (long)

Han character

龍: Hán Việt readings: long (盧(lô)容(dung)切(thiết))
龍: Nôm readings: long, lung, lỏng, lúng, luông, luồng

1. chữ Hán form of long (“dragon”).

1. a male given name

Compounds

Compounds

• 龍山 (Long Sơn)
• 下龍 (Hạ Long)
• 恐龍 (khủng long)
• 昇龍 (Thăng Long)