烏

烏 (Kangxi radical 86, 火+6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 竹口卜火 (HRYF), four-corner 2732₇, composition ⿱丿⿹⿺㇉⿱コ一灬)

• 嗚(呜), 塢(坞), 嵨, 摀(𰓆), 溩, 隖(𬮻), 㮧(𱣂), 熓(𤆡), 瑦, 䃖(𱳳), 螐, 䡧, 鎢(钨), 䖚(𰲟), 鰞
• 鄔(邬), 歍(𰙋)

• 乌 (Simplified Chinese)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 670, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 18998
• Dae Jaweon: page 1079, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2202, character 3
• Unihan data for U+70CF

Pictogram (象形) – a bird. Compare 鳥 (“bird”), of similar development. See also the original version of its variant 於.

“crow; black; dark”

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ka-n (“crow”) (STEDT). Doublet of 鴉 (OC *qˤra, “crow; raven”), which retains the earlier vowel in Middle Chinese (*ʔˠa), and 鸒 (OC *m-q(r)a-s, “jackdaw”) (ibid.).

Schuessler (2007) considers it to be onomatopoeic, and compares it with Proto-Loloish *akᴸ (“crow”).

“Black; dark” is a semantic extension of “crow” – “black as a crow”. Compare 黑 (OC *hmlɯːɡ, “black”), which is cognate with 墨 (OC *mlɯːɡ, “ink”).

“sun”

The Three-legged crow was thought to reside in the Sun.

interrogative pronoun

Related to the following interrogative pronouns with similar phonological shapes in Old Chinese (Wang, 1982), with differing suffixes:

• 焉 (OC *qan, *qran, “how; where”)
• 惡 (OC *qaː, “how”)
• 安 (OC *qaːn, “where; how; why”)

烏

1. crow; raven; rook

   • 莫赤匪狐、莫黑匪烏。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     莫赤匪狐、莫黑匪乌。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Mò chì fěi hú, mò hēi fěi wū. [Pinyin]

     Nothing red is seen but foxes, nothing black but crows.

2. (obsolete, metonymic) sun

   兔走烏飛／兔走乌飞  ―  tùzǒuwūfēi  ―  time passes quickly (literally, “the rabbit [of the moon] runs and the crow [of the sun] flies”)

3. (literary or in compounds or Hakka, Min) black; dark

   烏雲／乌云  ―  wūyún  ―  dark cloud

   烏油油／乌油油  ―  wūyóuyóu  ―  glossy black

   嘴唇發烏／嘴唇发乌  ―  zuǐchún fā wū  ―  one's lips turn black

   • 匈奴騎，其西方盡白馬，東方盡青駹馬，北方盡烏驪馬，南方盡騂馬。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     匈奴骑，其西方尽白马，东方尽青𮪡马，北方尽乌骊马，南方尽骍马。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Xiōngnú qí, qí xīfāng jìn báimǎ, dōngfāng jìn qīng máng mǎ, běifāng jìn wū lí mǎ, nánfāng jìn xīng mǎ. [Pinyin]

     The mounted troops of the Xiongnu on the west all had white horses; on the east, all blue-green horses; on the north, all black horses; on the south, all red horses.

   • 天烏烏，欲落雨。 [Hokkien, trad.]
     天乌乌，欲落雨。 [Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 天烏烏 (The sky is dark)

     Thiⁿ o͘-o͘, beh lo̍h-hō͘. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     The sky is dark; it seems like it will rain.

4. (literary) to dye black
5. (literary) An interrogative pronoun with a variety of meanings, including "how", "why", "where", etc.

   • 褒城驛號天下第一。及得寓目，視其沼，則淺混而汙；視其舟，則離敗而膠。庭除甚蕪，堂廡甚殘，烏睹其所謂宏麗者？ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     褒城驿号天下第一。及得寓目，视其沼，则浅混而污；视其舟，则离败而胶。庭除甚芜，堂庑甚残，乌睹其所谓宏丽者？ [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 850, 孫樵,《書褒城驛壁》

     Bāochéngyì hào tiānxiàdìyī. Jí dé yùmù, shì qí zhǎo, zé qiǎnhùn ér wū; shì qí zhōu, zé líbài ér jiāo. Tíng chú shèn wú, táng wǔ shèn cán, wū dǔ qí suǒwèi hónglì zhě? [Pinyin]

     The Baocheng Posting Station has been reputed to be the finest under heaven. Yet upon seeing it with my own eyes, I beheld its pond—shallow, turbid, and overgrown with reeds; its boats—broken apart, stranded, and unfit for use. The courtyard steps were untended, while the hall and the surrounding chambers were severely dilapidated. Where could one perceive the grandeur and splendor it is said to possess?

6. a surname
7. Short for:
   1. 烏克蘭／乌克兰 (Wūkèlán, “Ukraine”)

      俄烏戰爭／俄乌战争  ―  É-Wū zhànzhēng  ―  Russia–Ukraine War

   2. 烏拉圭／乌拉圭 (Wūlāguī, “Uruguay”)
   3. 烏茲別克斯坦／乌兹别克斯坦 (Wūzībiékèsītǎn, “Uzbekistan”)

• 惡／恶 (è)

• → English: O (Singapore, via Hokkien or Teochew)

• “烏”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 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), A02407

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

• Go-on: う (u)
• Kan-on: お (o)^{←を (wo, historical)}
• Kan’yō-on: え (e)
• Kun: からす (karasu, 烏)、いずくんぞ (izukunzo, 烏んぞ)^{←いづくんぞ (idukunzo, 烏んぞ, historical)}、なんぞ (nanzo, 烏ぞ)

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *karasu.

Compound of から (kara, “caw”, onomatopoeia, imitative of a crow's caw) +‎ す (su, “bird”, ancient suffix appearing in certain bird names).^[1] Compare the す (su) in 鶯 (uguisu), 杜鵑 (hototogisu), モズ (mozu).

• (Tokyo) からす [káꜜràsù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɾa̠sɨ]

烏(からす) or 烏(カラス) • (karasu) 

1. a crow or raven

   Synonym: 慈鳥 (jichō)

From Middle Chinese 烏 (MC 'u).

The goon pronunciation, so likely the initial borrowing.

• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟]

烏(う) • (u) 

1. crow; raven
2. black; dark
3. (figuratively) sun
4. A Chinese interrogative for rhetorical questions.

   烏(う)有(ゆう) ― uyū ― (literally “not-have”) nonexistence; nothing

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Cognate with Japanese 烏 (karasu).

烏(がらさー) or 烏(がるさー) (garasā or garusā) 

1. crow, raven

烏 (eumhun 까마귀 오 (kkamagwi o))

1. hanja form^? of 오 (“crow”)

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Cognate with Japanese 烏 (karasu).

烏(がらすぃ) (garasï) 

1. crow, raven

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Cognate with Japanese 烏 (karasu).

烏(がらし) (garashi) 

1. crow, raven

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Cognate with Japanese 烏 (karasu).

烏(がらし) (garashi) 

1. crow, raven

烏: Hán Nôm readings: o, ô

烏

1. chữ Hán form of ô (“(of a horse) black”)

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Cognate with Japanese 烏 (karasu).

烏(がらち) (garachi) 

1. crow, raven