兄

Stroke order

兄 (Kangxi radical 10, 儿+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 口竹山 (RHU), four-corner 6021₀, composition ⿱口儿)

• 兌, 兑, 況(况), 祝, 呪, 柷, 貺(贶), 㚾, 眖, 𤔓, 𪺎, 怳, 㫛, 𰃋, 𣅷, 𣍦, 炾, 𦬺, 岲, 𡶢, 𠩣, 𪾍, 軦, 𭀢, 𬞁, 𮞈

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 123, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1343
• Dae Jaweon: page 259, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 266, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5144

Historical forms of the character 兄
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script   j20630   j20631   j20632   j20633   j20634   j20635   j20636   j20637   j20638   j20639   j20640   j20641   j20642   j20643   j20644   j20645   j20646   j20647   j20648   j20649   j20650   j20651   j20652   j20653   j20654   j20655   j20656   j20657   j20658   j20659   j20660   j20661   j20662   j20663   j20664   j20665   j20666   j20667   j20668   j20669   j20670   j20671   j20672   j20673   j20674   j20675   j20676   j20677   j20678   j20679   j20680   j20681   j20682   j20683   j20684   j20685   j20686   j20687   j20688   j20689   j20690   j20691   j20692   j20693   j20694   j20695   j20696   j20697   j20698   j20699   j20700   j20701   j20702   j20703   j20704   j20705   j20706   j20707   j20708   j20709   j20710   j20711   j20712   j20713   j20714   j20715   j20716   j20717   j20718   j20719   j20720   j20721   j20722   j20723   j20724   j20725   j20726   j20727   j20728   j20729   j20730   j20731   j20732   j20733   j20734   j20735   j20736   j20737   j20738   j20739   j20740   j20741   j20742   j20743   j20744 Bronze inscriptions   b13475   b13476   b13477   b13478   b13479   b13480   b13481   b13482   b13483   b13484   b13485   b13486   b13487   b13488   b13489   b13490   b13491   b13492   b13493   b13494   b13495   b13496   b13497   b13498   b13499   b13500   b13501   b13502   b13504 Small seal script   s06205 Transcribed ancient scripts   L33193   L33194   L10751   L10752   L10753   L10754   L10755   L10756   L10757   L10758   L10759
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 口 + 儿 to convey the idea of giving orders. The original meaning of "elder brother" refers to the fact that the elder brother gives order to the younger brothers and his sisters. Compare 令, in which an open mouth on top of the character conveys the same idea of giving orders. Similar to 欠, in which there is a kneeling man with an open mouth.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *maŋ (“big; old; elder (brother, uncle)”) (Sagart, 1999; STEDT). Related to 孟 (OC *mraːŋs, “great; eldest brother; first”); see there for more.

Schuessler (2007), instead, connects it to Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔwyik (“elder sibling”), which is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔik (“elder brother”).

Alternatively, Benedict (1972) relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bʷaŋ ~ *pʷaŋ (“(paternal) uncle; elder brother”), which is possibly also related to 伯 (OC *praːɡ, “paternal uncle; eldest brother”).

兄

1. elder brother
2. elder male cousin

   堂兄  ―  tángxiōng  ―  father’s brother’s son older than oneself

3. brother (male friend of the same generation)
4. (Hokkien, familiar) respectful honorific used after a name for an elder brother or any male senior: Mister; Brother

• (elder brother):

• → Lao: ເຮຍ (hīa)
• → Thai: เฮีย (hiia)

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. elder/older brother
2. honorific referencing an older brother figure

• Go-on: きょう (kyō, Jōyō ^†)^{←きやう (kyau, historical)←くゐやう (kwiyau, ancient)}
• Kan-on: けい (kei, Jōyō)^{←けい (kei, historical)←くゑい (kwei, ancient)}
• Tō-on: ひん (hin)
• Kun: あに (ani, 兄, Jōyō)、にい (nī, 兄)、にいさん (nīsan, 兄さん)、え (e, 兄)^{←え (e, 兄, historical)←𛀁 (ye, 兄, ancient)}、せ (se, 兄)
• Nanori: えだ (eda)^{←えだ (eda, historical)←𛀁だ (yeda, ancient)}、これ (kore)、さき (saki)、しげ (shige)、ただ (tada)、ね (ne)、よし (yoshi)

From Old Japanese of unclear derivation:

• Probably originally a compound of 吾 (a, Eastern Old Japanese first-person pronoun) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 兄 (ye → e, “eldest sibling”, see below):^[1]

  ⟨a no₂ ye⟩ → */anʉʲɨe/ → /ani/

• Alternatively, an apophonic form of 姉 (ane, “elder sister”), itself possibly from the same derivation above.^[2]
• Several other theories have also been suggested.^[1]

• (Tokyo) あに [áꜜnì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3][4]
• IPA^(key): [a̠ɲ̟i]

兄(あに) • (ani) 

1. elder brother
2. elder brother-in-law

   Synonym: 義兄 (gikei)

3. Short for 花の兄 (hana no ani): alternative name for the 梅 (ume), the Japanese plum (Prunus mume)

• (elder brother): This term conveys neither positive nor negative connotations and is often used in objective narrations. However, using it to describe someone the speaker knows personally is often considered lacking respect, where more polite forms like お兄(にい)さん (onīsan) are preferred.

• 姉(あね) (ane, “elder sister”)
• 弟(おとうと) (otōto, “younger brother”)
• 妹(いもうと) (imōto, “younger sister”)

*/kwæi/ → /kʷæi/ → /keː/

From Middle Chinese 兄 (MC xjwaeng).

• (Tokyo) けー [kéꜜè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [ke̞ː]

• Pitch accent for suffix unknown.

兄(けい) • (kei) 

1. (rare) an elder brother

   Coordinate term: 弟 (tei)

• 兄(けい)たり難(がた)く弟(てい)たり難(がた)し (kei tarigataku tei tarigatashi)

兄(けい) • (kei) 

1. pronoun referencing an older brother figure: you, he

兄(けい) • (-kei) 

1. attaches to a name referencing an older brother figure: Mister, Mr.

/je/ → /e/

From Old Japanese.

兄(え) • (e) 

1. (archaic) the eldest sibling

   Antonym: 弟 (oto)

   • 711–712, Kojiki, poem 16:
     , text here

     加都賀都母(かつがつも)伊夜佐岐陀弖流(いやさきだてる)延(𛀁)袁斯麻加牟(をしまかむ) [Man'yōgana]

     かつがつもいや先(さき)立(だ)てる兄(え)をし枕(ま)かむ [Modern spelling]

     katsugatsu mo iya sakidateru e o shi makamu

     If I have to choose, the one standing there in front―the eldest one I'll wed.^[5]

From Old Japanese.

• 夫, 背

兄(せ) • (se) 

1. (archaic) a woman's brother (regardless of age difference)
2. (archaic) a woman's lover or husband
3. (archaic) a familiar man

• 妹(いも) (imo)

From Old Japanese.

Originally a compound of 子 (ko, “child”) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 上 (kami, “upper”).^[3][6]

• 首, 氏上

兄(このかみ) • (konokami) 

1. (archaic) eldest son

   Synonyms: 長兄 (chōkei), 長男 (chōnan)

2. (archaic) a senior

   Synonym: 年長者 (nenchōsha)

3. (archaic) (by extension) an elder sibling
4. (archaic) the head of a clan
5. (archaic) a skilled craftsman

   Synonym: 頭 (kashira)

• 兄(このかみ)心(ごころ) (konokami-gokoro)
• 兄(このこう)部(べ) (konokōbe)

From Middle Chinese 兄 (MC xjwaeng).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [çʌ̹ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [형]

 

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

兄

Wikisource

兄 (eumhun 형 형 (hyeong hyeong))

1. hanja form^? of 형 (“older brother of a male”) [noun]

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

兄: Hán Nôm readings: huynh

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