人

人 U+4EBA, 人 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4EBA ← 亹 [U+4EB9] CJK Unified Ideographs 亻 → [U+4EBB]

⼈ U+2F08, ⼈ KANGXI RADICAL MAN ← ⼇ [U+2F07] Kangxi Radicals ⼉ → [U+2F09]

Stroke order

Stroke order

• 亻 (when used as a left radical)
• 彳 (when used as a left radical)
• 𠂉 (when used as an upper radical)

人 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+0, 2 strokes, cangjie input 人 (O), four-corner 8000₀, composition ⿸丿㇏)

1. Kangxi radical #9, ⼈.

• Appendix:Chinese radical/人
• 㕥, 汄, 队, 㫃, 朲, 㽗, 臥, 畒, 䖋, 认, 龪, 閄(𬮘), 飤(𬲦), 魜(𬶁)
• 欠, 㞤, 秂, 珡, 庂, 勽, 贝, 肉, 臾, 閃(闪), 囚, 火, 齿, 大, 内, 㬰

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 91, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 344
• Dae Jaweon: page 190, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 101, character 10
• Unihan data for U+4EBA

Pictogram (象形) – side view of a standing man, highlighting an arm and a leg. Compare 大, 立 (lì), 卩, 夭, and 氏 according to one interpretation. See also the original version of 年.

亼 is similar but unrelated; it represents an open mouth flipped upside down and appears on top of characters such as 食, 金, 令, 龠, and 今.

It represents a roof in the characters 余, 茶, 舍, and 倉. It represents a flag on a flagpole in 㫃. Eventually, it represents two parallel mountain walls in 谷.

The stylized version to the left of the characters is 亻 (see also 千). Similar but unrelated to 彳.

simp. and trad.		人
alternative forms		亻 component 𠆢 component ⺈ component 儿 component 𠂉 component 亻 component 𠆢 component ⺈ component 儿 component 𠂉 component 几 𠔽 𤯔 𦉫 寧／宁 Northern Wu

Sagart (1999) relates it to Tibetan ཉེན (nyen, “relative”), from ཉེ (nye, “near”) + nominalizing suffix -n; if so, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *nəj(ʔ) (“near”).

Schuessler (2007) proposes two etymologies:

• Same etymon as 仁 (OC *njin, “to be kind; to be good”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/k-niŋ (“heart; brain; mind”). The semantic association of 仁 with 人 was somewhat late, dated to Mencius's time; later on, 仁 would be usually interpreted as "humane, acting like a human being".
  • If so, semantically parallel with Tibetan སེམས་ཅན (sems can, “living being, human, animal”, literally “possessor of mind”); and Latin animalis (“living, having soul”) from anima (“soul”).
• Related to Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɲaʔ ~ *ɲah (“person”) with a nominalizing suffix -n, from the auto-ethnonym of a hostile, possibly Austroasiatic-speaking, eastern people, whom the Sinitic-speaking Shang referred to as 人方 (OC *njin paŋ).

人

1. man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)

   人類／人类  ―  rénlèi  ―  humans

   那人是誰？／那人是谁？  ―  Nà rén shì shéi?  ―  Who is that person?

   嗰個人係邊個嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   嗰个人系边个嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   go² go³ jan^4-2 hai⁶ bin¹ go³ lai⁴ gaa³? [Jyutping]

   Who is that person?

   有人敲門了。／有人敲门了。  ―  Yǒurén qiāomén le.  ―  Someone knocked on the door.

   • 2021, “天地人”‎^[5]performed by 袁小迪:

     無論過去抑如今　無論海水有外深　我的身邊總有天地人 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     无论过去抑如今　无论海水有外深　我的身边总有天地人 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     bô-lūn kòe-khì ia̍h jû-kim, bô-lūn hái-chúi ū gōa chhim, góa ê sin-piⁿ chóng ū thian tē jîn [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     No matter in the past or the present, no matter how deep the ocean is, I always have the heavens, the earth, and people by my side.

2. a person associated with a particular identity or trait; -er

   主持人  ―  zhǔchírén  ―  host

   北京人  ―  Běijīngrén  ―  Beijinger

   香港人 [Cantonese]  ―  hoeng¹ gong² jan⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  Hongkonger

3. body

   人在心不在  ―  rén zài xīn bù zài  ―  the body is here but the heart is not

   這兩天人不大舒服。 [MSC, trad.]
   这两天人不大舒服。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè liǎng tiān rén bùdà shūfú. [Pinyin]

   I [lit. the body] haven't been feeling that well these few days.

   今天上午你人在哪？ [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Jīntiān shàngwǔ nǐ rén zài nǎ? [Pinyin]

   Where have you been this morning?

   • 2024 December 8, 人生不鱼期, “灵隐寺没保住叙利亚，却提前送走了阿萨德”, in mp.weixin.qq.com‎^[6][7][8]:

     而仅一年后，他的政权轰然倒塌，甚至连人都跑到了俄罗斯。 [MSC, simp.]
     而僅一年後，他的政權轟然倒塌，甚至連人都跑到了俄羅斯。 [MSC, trad.]

     Ér jǐn yī nián hòu, tā de zhèngquán hōngrán dǎotā, shènzhì lián rén dōu pǎo dào le Éluósī. [Pinyin]

     And merely 1 year later, his regime has collapsed spectacularly, and he himself has fled to Russia.

4. everybody; everyone

   人手一冊／人手一册  ―  rén shǒu yī cè  ―  It's a bestseller. (literally, “Everyone has a copy.”)

   人所共知  ―  rénsuǒgòngzhī  ―  common knowledge

5. other people; others

   人云亦云  ―  rényúnyìyún  ―  to follow the crowd (literally, “to say what others say”)

   害人害己  ―  hàirénhàijǐ  ―  to harm others and oneself

   • 仁者愛人，有禮者敬人。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     仁者爱人，有礼者敬人。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Rénzhě ài rén, yǒulǐ zhě jìng rén. [Pinyin]

     A benevolent person loves others. A person of propriety shows respect to others.

6. physical, psychological or moral quality or condition; character; personality (Classifier: 份 c; 個／个 c)

   就我所知，他人不錯。 [MSC, trad.]
   就我所知，他人不错。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jiùwǒsuǒzhī, tā rén bùcuò. [Pinyin]

   As far as I know, he is kind.

   (literally, “his personality is not bad”)

   我不知道他是什麼人。 [MSC, trad.]
   我不知道他是什么人。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ bù zhīdào tā shì shénme rén. [Pinyin]

   I don't know what kind of person he is.

   佢到底係咩人嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢到底系咩人嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ dou³ dai² hai⁶ me¹ jan⁴ lai⁴ gaa³? [Jyutping]

   Exactly what kind of person is he?

   佢個人好懶。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢个人好懒。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ go³ jan⁴ hou² laan⁵. [Jyutping]

   He is very lazy.

7. manpower; worker; employee

   我們公司正缺人。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们公司正缺人。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen gōngsī zhèng quē rén. [Pinyin]

   Our company is short on manpower right now.

8. talent; person of talent
9. (obsolete) common people; commoner

   • 皇天上帝，后土神祇，眷顧降命，屬秀黎元，為人父母，秀不敢當。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     皇天上帝，后土神祇，眷顾降命，属秀黎元，为人父母，秀不敢当。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5^th century CE

     Huángtiān shàngdì, hòutǔ shénqí, juàngù jiàngmìng, shǔ Xiù líyuán, wéi rén fùmǔ, Xiù bùgǎn dāng. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

10. adult; grown-up

    長大成人／长大成人  ―  zhǎngdà chéngrén  ―  to grow up to be an adult

11. artificial; man-made

    人禍／人祸  ―  rénhuò  ―  human disaster

12. (fantasy, mythology) were- (indicates a person who changes shape into an animal)

    狼人  ―  lángrén  ―  werewolf

    虎人  ―  hǔrén  ―  weretiger

13. (Cantonese) used as a dummy pronoun; someone; others
14. (Zhao'an Hakka) pluralizes a personal pronoun

    𠊎人、你人、佢人 [Zhao'an Hakka, trad. and simp.]

    ngai` ngin`, hen` ngin`, gui` ngin` [Taiwanese Hakka Romanization System]

    we, you all, they

15. (obsolete) sexual intercourse

    人道  ―  réndào  ―  sexual intercourse

    人事  ―  rénshì  ―  sexual intercourse

16. (obsolete) company; companion; friend
17. (obsolete) human affairs; ways of the world
18. (obsolete) mortal world; earthly word
19. (obsolete) alternative form of 仁 (rén, “kernel”)
20. (obsolete) alternative form of 仁 (rén, “charity”)
21. (obsolete) alternative form of 仁 (rén, “loving; kind”)
22. (Beijing Mandarin) Lenition of 人家 (rénjia).

    別磨蹭啦，人在外頭等著我們呢！ [dialectal Mandarin, trad.]
    别磨蹭啦，人在外头等着我们呢！ [dialectal Mandarin, simp.]

    Bié móceng la, rén zǎi wàitou děng zhe wǒmen ne! [Pinyin]

    Stop dilly-dallying. He/She/They is/are waiting for us outside!

    哎呀，人孩子考上哈佛大學啦，多出息呀！ [dialectal Mandarin, trad.]
    哎呀，人孩子考上哈佛大学啦，多出息呀！ [dialectal Mandarin, simp.]

    Āiya, rén háizi kǎoshang Hāfó Dàxué la, duō chūxi ya! [Pinyin]

    Geez, his/her/their kid got into Harvard University. How promising!

    人別人都不吱聲兒，就他把這事兒給說出來了。 [dialectal Mandarin, trad.]
    人别人都不吱声儿，就他把这事儿给说出来了。 [dialectal Mandarin, simp.]

    Rén biéren dōu bù zīshengr, jiù tā bǎ zhèi shìr gěi shuō chulai le. [Pinyin]

    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

23. (Taishanese) paternal grandmother
24. a surname

simp. and trad.		人
alternative forms		儂／侬 𠆧

The Min native word for “person”; used as a replacement character for 儂 / 侬. It is historically attested for Hokkien in the Arte de la Lengua Chiõ Chiu (1620) and Dictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642).^[1][2] Use of 人 for Hokkien is recommended by Taiwan's Ministry of Education (ROC MOE).

人 (Coastal Min)

1. man; person; people; human being; Homo sapiens (Classifier: 個／个 mn; 隻／只 md)
2. a person associated with a particular identity or trait; -er

   臺灣人／台湾人 [Hokkien]  ―  Tâi-oân-lâng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  Taiwanese

3. physical, psychological or moral quality or condition

   伊人𣍐䆀。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   伊人𫧃䆀。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   I lâng bē-bái. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   He is kind.

   (literally, “His personality is not bad.”)

人 (Coastal Min)

1. other people
   • (Can we date this quote?), “你苦無我苦”‎^[9]performed by 黃一飛 [Huang Yi-fei]:

     人講三百六十五行會當行行出狀元。 [Hokkien, trad.]
     人讲三百六十五行会当行行出状元。 [Hokkien, simp.]

     Lâng kóng saⁿ-pah la̍k-cha̍p-gō͘ hâng ē-tàng hâng-hâng chhut chiōng-goân. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     People say you can be a master in any of the 365 trades.

2. I; me

• (Mandarin) 人家

• “人”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[10], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00068
• “人”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: にん (nin, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: じん (jin, Jōyō)
• Kun: ひと (hito, 人, Jōyō)、り (ri, 人)
• Nanori: きよ (kiyo)、さね (sane)、じ (ji)、たみ (tami)、と (to)、ね (ne)、ひこ (hiko)、ひとし (hitoshi)、ふと (futo)、ふみ (fumi)、むと (muto)、め (me)

Kanji in this term
人
ひと Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
ヒト (sciences)

⟨pi₁to₂⟩ → */pʲitə/ → /fito/ → /hito/ → /çito/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *pitə.

First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.^[1]

• (Tokyo) ひと [hìtó] (Heiban – [0])^[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [çi̥to̞]

人(ひと) or 人(ヒト) • (hito)  (counter 人)

1. a person, human
   1. ヒト: (sciences, specifically) Homo sapiens; human
2. an individual

   Synonym: 個人 (kojin)

3. mankind, people

   Synonyms: 人類 (jinrui), 人間 (ningen)

4. character, personality

   Synonyms: 人格 (jinkaku), 人柄 (hitogara)

5. an average person

   Synonym: 世人 (sejin, yohito)

6. (law) legal person
7. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

   Synonyms: 方 (kata), 者 (mono)

8. an adult

   Synonyms: 大人 (otona), 成人 (seijin)

9. someone (else)

   人(ひと)の物(もの)を盗(ぬす)む

   hito no mono o nusumu

   to steal someone's things; to steal people's things

• From Old Japanese or Middle Japanese development, hito is sometimes shifted to -uto, -udo, -to, -tto, or -do.

人(ひと) • (hito) 

1. (archaic) second-person personal pronoun: you

Kanji in this term
人
にん Grade: 1
goon

From Early Middle Chinese 人 (MC nyin). The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing. Compare Shanghainese nyin.

• (Tokyo) にん [níꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2][4]
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ĩɴ]

人(にん) • (nin) 

1. a personality
2. the role of that person

人(にん) • (-nin) 

1. counter for number of people

人(にん) • (nin) 

1. man

Kanji in this term
人
じん Grade: 1
kan'on

From Late Middle Chinese 人 (MC nyin). The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing. Compare Mandarin 人 (rén).

• (Tokyo) じん [jíꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[4][3]
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑĩɴ]

人(じん) • (-jin) 

1. person from that group

   日本(にほん)人(じん)、イギリス人(じん)、スペイン人(じん)、ドイツ人(じん)、米国(べいこく)人(じん)、スコットランド人(じん)

   Nihonjin, Igirisujin, Supeinjin, Doitsujin, Beikokujin, Sukottorandojin

   a Japanese person, an Englishman, a Spaniard, a German, an American, a Scot

2. person who does the activity of the suffixed word

When compounding, makes the accent fall on the 自立拍 (jiritsuhaku, “autonomous mora”) immediately before itself. For example:

• 中国 (ちゅꜜうごく) + 人 → 中国人 (ちゅうごくꜜじん)
• アメリカ + 人 → アメリカ人 (アメリカꜜじん)
• スペꜜイン + 人 → スペイン人 (スペイꜜンじん; ン is a 特殊拍 (tokushuhaku, “special mora”), therefore accentless)
• ノルウェꜜー + 人 → ノルウェー人 (ノルウェꜜーじん; ー is a 特殊拍 (tokushuhaku, “special mora”), therefore accentless)

There are notable exceptions:

• 日本 (にほꜜん/にっぽꜜん) + 人 → 日本人 (にほんじꜜん/にっぽんじꜜん)
• 朝鮮 (ちょうせꜜん) + 人 → 朝鮮人 (ちょうせんじꜜん)

人(じん) • (jin) 

1. man
2. short for 人造 (jinzō): artificial, synthetic

Kanji in this term
人
り Grade: 1
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. The protoform may have been -ri or -tari, see 二人 (futari, literally “two people”).

• IPA^(key): [ɾʲi]

人(り) • (-ri) 

1. counter for number of people

• 一人(ひとり) (hitori), 独(ひと)り (hitori)
• 二人(ふたり) (futari)
• 三人(みたり) (mitari)

From Middle Chinese 人 (MC nyin).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448	ᅀᅵᆫ (Yale: zìn)
Middle Korean
Text	Eumhun
	Gloss (hun)	Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[11]	사〯ᄅᆞᆷ (Yale: sǎlòm)	ᅀᅵᆫ (Yale: zìn)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [in]
• Phonetic hangul: [인]

Wikisource

人 (eumhun 사람 인 (saram in))

1. hanja form^? of 인 (“human; person”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [12]

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• Kun: ちゅー (chū, 人)

From Proto-Ryukyuan *pito (“person; human”), from Proto-Japonic *pitə (“person; human”).

• IPA^(key): /t͡ɕuː/

人(ちゅー) (chū) 

1. person
2. human

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• On (unclassified): にん (nin, Jōyō)
• Kun: ぴぃとぅ (psïtu, 人)

From Proto-Ryukyuan *pito (“person; human”), from Proto-Japonic *pitə (“person; human”).

• IPA^(key): /ps̩tu/

人(ぴぃとぅ) (psïtu) 

1. person
2. human

• IPA^(key): /niŋ/

人(にん) (-nin) 

1. counter for number of people

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• On (unclassified): にん (nin, Jōyō)
• Kun: っちゅ (tchu, 人)、ぴとぅ (pitu, 人)、い (i, 人)、たい (tai, 人)

• 人間(にんじん) (ninjin)

Kanji in this term
人
っちゅ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

From Proto-Ryukyuan *pito (“person; human”), from Proto-Japonic *pitə (“person; human”).

• IPA^(key): /t̚t͡ɕu/

人(っちゅ) (tchu) 

1. person
2. human

• 沖(うち)縄(なー)ん人(ちゅ) (uchinānchu): Okinawans, Okinawa people
• 八重山(いぇーやま)ん人(ちゅ) (yēyamanchu): Yaeyamans, Yaeyama people
• 大和(やまとぅ)ん人(ちゅ) (yamatunchu): (non-Ryukyuan) Japanese people, mainlanders
• 大(うふ)人(っちゅ) (ufutchu): adult
• 海人(んみんちゅ) (nminchu)

Kanji in this term
人
ぴとぅ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

人(ぴとぅ) (pitu) 

1. people
2. person

• 八重山(いぇーやま)人(ぴとぅ) (yēyamapitu): Yaeyamans, Yaeyama people

Kanji in this term
人
にん Grade: 1
on'yomi

人(にん) (nin) 

1. person; type of person

• 官(くゎん)人(にん) (kwannin): public servant, civil servant, government official

人(にん) (-nin) 

1. counter for number of people

• 五(ぐ)人(にん) (gunin): five people
• 八(はち)人(にん) (hachinin): eight people
• 九(く)人(にん) (kunin): nine people
• 十(じゅー)人(にん) (jūnin): ten people

Kanji in this term
人
い Grade: 1
kun'yomi

人(い) (-i) 

1. counter for number of people

• 一人(ちゅい) (chui), 独(ちゅ)い (chui, “alone, lone; one person”)

Kanji in this term
人
たい Grade: 1
kun'yomi

人(たい) (-tai) 

1. counter for number of people

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1. Template:vi-Han form of
   1. Template:lb human
   2. Kangxi radical 9—‘man’
2. Template:lb Template:vi-Han form of

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From Template:inh, from Template:inh.

• Template:IPA

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1. person
2. human

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From Template:inh, from Template:inh.

• Template:IPA

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1. person
2. human

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