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外

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: 㚈 and 舛
外 U+5916, 外
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5916
← 夕
[U+5915] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 夗 →
[U+5917]

Translingual

More information Stroke order ...
More information Stroke order ...

Han character

外 (Kangxi radical 36, 夕+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈卜 (NIY), four-corner 23200, composition ⿰夕卜(GHTVHK))

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 246, character 2
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5750
  • Dae Jaweon: page 487, character 5
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 860, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+5916
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Chinese

More information trad., simp. # ...

Glyph origin

More information Historical forms of the character 外, Shang ...

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ŋʷaːds): semantic 卜 + phonetic 月 (OC *ŋod).

According to 学研漢和大字典 (Kenkyūsha Kanwa Dai Jiten), it is also an ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意); 月 originally represents a crescent moon (i.e. the moon with part “missing” to the observer). The character is thus interpreted as representing divination based on the partial phase of the moon, implying the remaining visible part of the moon is the moon's ‘outside’. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

In oracle bone script, 外 was written identical to 卜, but they were distinguished by the fact that 卜 has a horizontal bar extending to the inside of the tortoise shell, while 外 has a horizontal bar extending to the outside. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Note: wei4 appears in some phrases.
Note:
  • nguôi - literary;
  • ngiê - colloquial.
  • Dialectal data
More information Variety, Location ...
More information Rime, Character ...
More information Character, Reading # ...
More information Zhengzhang system (2003), Character ...

Definitions

外

  1. out; outside; external
    Antonyms: 裡 / 里 (lǐ), 內 / 内
    窗外  ―  chuāng wài  ―  outside a window
    外表  ―  wàibiǎo  ―  outward appearance
  2. beyond; above; in addition to; other than; except
    此外  ―  cǐwài  ―  in addition (to this)
    十公里外  ―  shí gōnglǐ wài  ―  10 km beyond (a place)
  3. other; foreign; alien (not of one's own family, clan, locality, school, country, etc.)
    外國／外国  ―  wàiguó  ―  foreign country
    外校  ―  wài xiào  ―  other schools
  4. foreign country
    中外  ―  zhōngwài  ―  China and foreign countries; in and outside of China
    對外貿易／对外贸易  ―  duì wài màoyì  ―  foreign trade
    漢外詞典／汉外词典  ―  hàn-wài cídiǎn  ―  Chinese dictionary in a foreign language
  5. (literary) to alienate; to other; to exclude; to distance
    見外／见外  ―  jiànwài  ―  to make me feel like an outsider (literally, "to have me excluded [from the familiar circle]")
  6. relatives of one's mother, sister or daughter
    外婆  ―  wàipó  ―  maternal grandmother
    外孫／外孙  ―  wàisūn  ―  daughter's son
    外祖父  ―  wàizǔfù  ―  maternal grandfather
  7. additional
    外加  ―  wàijiā  ―  plus
    外帶／外带  ―  wàidài  ―  to include (something) as well
  8. unofficial
    外史  ―  wàishǐ  ―  unofficial history
    外號／外号  ―  wàihào  ―  nickname
  9. (Hokkien, Teochew, after an amount but before the classifier) as much as
    二十外歲／二十外岁 [Hokkien]  ―  jī-cha̍p gōa hòe [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  20-something years old

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 外面 (“outside”) [map]
More information Variety, Location ...

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (外):
  • → Japanese: 外(げ) (ge); 外(がい) (gai)
  • → Korean: 외(外) (oe)
  • → Vietnamese: ngoại (外)

Others:

  • → Vietnamese: ngoài (“outside”)
  • → Old Turkic: term
    • → Turkmen: öweý

References

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Japanese

Korean

Vietnamese

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