凶

See also: 兇, 区, and 𠄡

凶	U+51F6, 凶 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-51F6

← 凵
[U+51F5]

CJK Unified Ideographs

凷 →
[U+51F7]

Translingual

Han character

凶 (Kangxi radical 17, 凵+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 山大 (UK), four-corner 2277₀, composition ⿶凵㐅)

Derived characters

㐫

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 135, character 2
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1803
Dae Jaweon: page 300, character 28
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 306, character 19
Unihan data for U+51F6

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 凶
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Small seal script s05171 Transcribed ancient scripts L30005 L00905 L00906 L00907 L00908 L00909
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).

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

	Old Chinese
酗	*qʰos
凶	*qʰoŋ
匈	*qʰoŋ
兇	qʰoŋ, qʰoŋʔ
訩	*qʰoŋ
胸	*qʰoŋ
胷	*qʰoŋ
洶	qʰoŋ, qʰoŋʔ
恟	*qʰoŋ
詾	qʰoŋ, qʰoŋʔ

Pictogram (象形) and/or Ideogram (指事)- with the '凵' component representing a hole in the ground and with the '㐅' component (if an ideogram) indicating the existence of a hole and/or (if a pictogram) representing rock, mud, stone or bamboo in the hole. Alternately, could be derived from the upper component of '㚇'.

Etymology

simp. and trad.		凶
alternative forms		㐫㓙兇

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiōng (xiong¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄩㄥ
Cantonese (Jyutping): hung¹
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): hiûng
Eastern Min (BUC): hṳ̆ng
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): hoeng¹ / hyoeng¹
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hiong

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiōng
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄩㄥ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: syong
  - Wade–Giles: hsiung¹
  - Yale: syūng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiong
  - Palladius: сюн (sjun)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ʊŋ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: hung¹
  - Yale: hūng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hung¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: hung¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hʊŋ⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hiûng
  - Hakka Romanization System: hiung^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hiung¹
  - Sinological IPA: /hi̯uŋ²⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: hṳ̆ng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hyŋ⁵⁵/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: hoeng¹
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: he̤ng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hœŋ⁵³³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: hyoeng¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hyøŋ⁵⁴⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hiong
  - Tâi-lô: hiong
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hiofng
  - IPA (Xiamen): /hiɔŋ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /hiɔŋ³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /hiɔŋ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hiɔŋ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hiɔŋ⁴⁴/

Middle Chinese: xjowng

Rime
Character	凶
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	鍾 (7)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	許容切
Baxter	xjowng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hɨoŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/hioŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/xioŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/huawŋ/
Li Rong	/xioŋ/
Wang Li	/xĭwoŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/xi̯woŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiōng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hung¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*qʰ(r)oŋ/

(Zhengzhang): /*qʰoŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	凶
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiōng
Middle Chinese	‹ xjowng ›
Old Chinese	/*qʰ(r)oŋ/
English	unlucky
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	凶
Reading #	1/1
No.	13889
Phonetic component
Rime group	東
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	胷
Old Chinese	/*qʰoŋ/

Definitions

凶

inauspicious; bad luck; bad omen
Antonym: 吉 (jí)
to have a famine due to crop failure
凶年 ― xiōngnián ― year of bad harvest and famine
- 河內凶，則移其民於河東，移其粟於河內；河東凶亦然。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内；河东凶亦然。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE
  Hé nèi xiōng, zé yí qí mín yú hé dōng, yí qí sù yú hé nèi; hé dōng xiōng yì rán. [Pinyin]
  If the year be bad on the inside of the river, I remove as many of the people as I can to the east of the river, and convey grain to the country in the inside. When the year is bad on the east of the river, I act on the same plan.
fierce; ferocious
alt. forms: 兇 / 凶 (xiōng)
terrible; fearful
alt. forms: 兇 / 凶 (xiōng)
act of violence; murder; evil
alt. forms: 兇 / 凶 (xiōng)
ruffian; evildoer; criminal
alt. forms: 兇 / 凶 (xiōng)

Compounds

元凶 (yuánxiōng)
凶事 (xiōngshì)
凶兆 (xiōngzhào)
凶器 (xiōngqì)
凶宅 (xiōngzhái)
凶悍 (xiōnghàn)
凶暴 (xiōngbào)
凶橫 (xiōnghèng)
凶焰 (xiōngyàn)
趨吉避凶 (qūjíbìxiōng)
逞凶 (chěngxiōng)

References

“凶”, 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.
莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “凶”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 266.

Japanese

Kanji

凶

(Jōyō kanji)

ominous
killing, terrible

Readings

Go-on: く (ku)、くう (kū)
Kan-on: きょう (kyō, Jōyō)
Kun: わるい (warui, 凶い)

Compounds

凶(きょう)悪(あく) (kyōaku)
凶(きょう)漢(かん) (kyōkan)
凶(きょう)旱(かん) (kyōkan)
凶(きょう)器(き) (kyōki)
凶(きょう)虐(ぎゃく) (kyōgyaku)
凶(きょう)逆(ぎゃく) (kyōgyaku)
凶(きょう)渠(きょ) (kyōkyo)
凶(きょう)凶(きょう) (kyōkyō)
凶(きょう)饉(きん) (kyōkin)
凶(きょう)桀(けつ) (kyōketsu)
凶(きょう)行(こう) (kyōkō)
凶(きょう)荒(こう) (kyōkō)
凶(きょう)狡(こう) (kyōkō)
凶(きょう)歳(さい) (kyōsai)
凶(きょう)作(さく) (kyōsaku)
凶(きょう)札(さつ) (kyōsatsu)
凶(きょう)残(ざん) (kyōzan)
凶(きょう)事(じ) (kyōji)
凶(きょう)日(じつ) (kyōjitsu)
凶(きょう)手(しゅ) (kyōshu)
凶(きょう)状(じょう) (kyōjō)
凶(きょう)刃(じん) (kyōjin)
凶(きょう)瑞(ずい) (kyōzui)
凶(きょう)賊(ぞく) (kyōzoku)
凶(きょう)弾(だん) (kyōdan)
凶(きょう)兆(ちょう) (kyōchō)
凶(きょう)徒(と) (kyōto)
凶(きょう)党(とう) (kyōtō)
凶(きょう)年(ねん) (kyōnen)
凶(きょう)敗(はい) (kyōhai)
凶(きょう)服(ふく) (kyōfuku)
凶(きょう)聞(ぶん) (kyōbun)
凶(きょう)変(へん) (kyōhen)
凶(きょう)報(ほう) (kyōhō)
凶(きょう)暴(ぼう) (kyōbō)
凶(きょう)夢(む) (kyōmu)
凶(きょう)猛(もう) (kyōmō)
凶(きょう)門(もん) (kyōmon)
凶(きょう)冷(れい) (kyōrei)
凶(きょう)礼(れい) (kyōrei)
凶(きょう)戻(れい) (kyōrei)
吉(きっ)凶(きょう) (kikkyō)
元(げん)凶(きょう) (genkyō)
豊(ほう)凶(きょう) (hōkyō)

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) きょー [kyóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [kʲo̞ː]

Noun

Kanji in this term
凶
きょう Grade: S
kan'on

Alternative spelling
兇

凶(きょう) • (kyō)

ill fortune

References

^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja

凶 (eumhun 흉할 흉 (hyunghal hyung))

hanja form^? of 흉 (“ominous; terrible”)

Compounds

흉악 (凶惡, hyung'ak, “evil”)

Vietnamese

Han character

凶: Hán Nôm readings: hung^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

chữ Hán form of hung (“inauspicious, unlucky, ominous”)

References

^ Génibrel (1898).
^ Bonet (1899).
^ Thiều Chửu (1942).
^ Nguyễn (1974).
^ Trần (1999).
^ Nguyễn et al. (2009).

[SMK7-1] Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[genibrel-3] Génibrel (1898).

[bonet-4] Bonet (1899).

[Thiều_Chửu_(1942)-5] Thiều Chửu (1942).

[Nguyễn_(1974)-6] Nguyễn (1974).

[Trần_(1999)-7] Trần (1999).

[tdcntd-8] Nguyễn et al. (2009).

[1]

[2]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

For pronunciation and definitions of 凶 – see 兇 (“terrible; ferocious”). (This character is the simplified and variant traditional form of 兇).
Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.