米

米 U+7C73, 米 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7C73 ← 籲 [U+7C72] CJK Unified Ideographs 籴 → [U+7C74]

⽶ U+2F76, ⽶ KANGXI RADICAL RICE ← ⽵ [U+2F75] Kangxi Radicals ⽷ → [U+2F77]

Stroke order

米 (Kangxi radical 119, 米+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 火木 (FD), four-corner 9090₄, composition ⿻丷木(GHJKV) or ⿻十⿱丷八(T) or ⿻丷⿻十八(T))

1. Kangxi radical #119, ⽶.

• Appendix:Chinese radical/米
• 侎, 咪, 洣, 迷, 毩, 脒, 眯, 䋛, 詸, 銤, 䱊
• 釆, 冞, 夈, 宩, 屎, 㪰, 㫧, 䍘, 麋, 敉, 料, 頪, 㐘, 麊, 匊, 氣, 歯

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 906, character 31
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 26832
• Dae Jaweon: page 1331, character 28
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3141, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7C73

trad.		米
simp. #		米

Pictogram (象形) – rice kernels without husk. The character 粟, by contrast, refers to rice kernels with husk. According to Li Xiaoding (李孝定), the horizontal stroke is a bamboo sieve (籭 or 篩子). See also the bottom component of 暴 in its original form.

Unrelated to 木, 禾, and 来.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma-j ~ mej (“rice; paddy”). Cognate with Garo mi (“rice”), Atong (India) mai (“rice”), Jingpho ma (“rice; paddy”), Rabha মাই (mai), Dimasa mai.

米

1. hulled or husked uncooked rice (Classifier: 粒 m c mn; 顆／颗 m)
2. husked seed
3. grain-like things
4. (chiefly Cantonese) short for 米粉 (mǐfěn, “rice vermicelli”)

   星洲炒米  ―  Xīngzhōu chǎomǐ  ―  Singapore-style noodles

   雪菜火鴨絲炆米 [Cantonese, trad.]
   雪菜火鸭丝炆米 [Cantonese, simp.]

   syut³ coi³ fo² aap³ si¹ man¹ mai⁵ [Jyutping]

   braised rice vermicelli with pickled mustard and shredded roast duck

5. (Cantonese, Shanghainese, slang) money

   有米 [Cantonese]  ―  jau⁵ mai⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  rich

   背米 [Shanghainese]  ―  ⁵pe ⁶mi [Wugniu]  ―  to earn money

6. (Shanghainese, slang) ten thousand of a currency designation; ten grand (Classifier: 粒 w)
7. a surname

   米芾  ―  Mǐ Fú  ―  Mi Fu (Song artist)

8. Used in transcription.

   米蘭／米兰  ―  Mǐlán  ―  Milan

   波希米亞／波希米亚  ―  Bōxīmǐyà  ―  Bohemia

   提拉米蘇／提拉米苏  ―  tílāmǐsū  ―  tiramisu

Short for 米突 (mǐtū), from English metre.

米

1. metre

   米三 [Teochew]  ―  bhi² san¹ [Peng'im]  ―  1.3 metres

   我有一米九高。  ―  Wǒ yǒu yī mǐ jiǔ gāo.  ―  I'm 1.9 metres tall.

   • 2020, “微光 [Glimmer]”, 唐小奕 (lyrics), 曹楊 [Young] (music)‎^[4]performed by 曹楊 [Young]:

     只是微小的光　照不亮一米的地方 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     zhǐshì wēixiǎo de guāng, zhào bù liàng yī mǐ de dìfang [Pinyin]

     [I] am just a tiny light; [I] cannot brighten up an area within a metre.

• (unit of length): 丈 (zhàng), 尺 (chǐ), 寸 (cùn), 分 (fēn)

米

1. only used in 米魯／米鲁

• “米”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[5], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “米”, 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.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. rice
2. (ateji) meter
3. (ateji) America (a supercontinent)
4. (ateji) United States, America (a country in North America)

• Go-on: まい (mai, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: べい (bei, Jōyō)
• Kan’yō-on: め (me)
• Kun: こめ (kome, 米, Jōyō)、めめ (meme, 米)、よね (yone, 米)、メートル (mētoru, 米)
• Nanori: こん (kon)、たから (takara)、めい (mei)

Kanji in this term
米
こめ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

⟨ko₂me₂⟩ → */kəməj/ → /kome/

From Old Japanese. First appears in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE, with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling 渠梅.^[1] In turn, from Proto-Japonic *kəmay.

Many theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation:

• Perhaps from 籠め (​kome), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 籠める (komeru, “do with one's heart”), from the way rice is farmed. The accent of kome in the Heian period is <LL>, while kome- in the Heian period is <L->. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
• Possibly cognate with Proto-Vietic *kəːm (“cooked rice”), modern cơm. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
• Possibly cognate with Proto-Austronesian *Semay and Old Chinese 糜 (OC *mral).^[2][3] However, this is extremely speculative; none of the known derivations from Proto-Austronesian *Semay develop initial /k/, nor is this shift explainable by any known mechanism within Japonic.

• (Tokyo) こめ [kòméꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[4][5][6]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞me̞]

米(こめ) • (kome) 

1. rice (husked grains of the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa), one of the five grains

   Synonym: (colloquial) 菩薩 (bosatsu)

   Hypernym: 五穀 (gokoku)

• 五(ご)穀(こく) (gokoku, “five grains”): 米(こめ) (kome, “rice”), 麦(むぎ) (mugi, “wheat”), 粟(あわ) (awa, “foxtail millet”), 黍(きび) (kibi, “proso millet”), 豆(まめ) (mame, “soybeans”)

• 飯(いい) (ii, “cooked grains”)
• 稲(イネ) (ine, “rice plant”)
• ご飯(はん) (gohan, “cooked rice”)
• ライス (raisu)

米(こめ) • (Kome) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

Kanji in this term
米
よね Grade: 2
kun'yomi

⟨yo₂nai⟩ → */jənai/ → */jəne/ → /jone/

First attested in the Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE).

From Proto-Japonic *yənəi; possibly related to 稲 (ine, “rice plant”).

The colloquial sense is derived from the components of the 米 kanji: 八 (hachi, “eight”) + 十 (jū, “ten”) + 八 (hachi, “eight”).

• (Tokyo) よね [yóꜜnè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [jo̞ne̞]

米(よね) • (yone) 

1. rice (husked grains of the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa)
2. (colloquial) an eighty-eight-year-old

   Synonym: 米寿 (beiju)

米(よね) • (Yone) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

Kanji in this term
米
めめ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Probably a shortened reduplication of kome (see above). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

First cited to a work from 1275.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [me̞me̞]

米(めめ) • (meme) 

1. (colloquial) rice (husked grains of the rice plant)

Kanji in this term
米
メートル Grade: 2 (ateji)
kun'yomi

Kanji in this term
米
メーター Grade: 2
irregular

For pronunciation and definitions of 米 – see the following entries.

【メートル】 [noun] a metre (unit of length) Alternative spelling 米突

【メーター】 [noun] a meter (measuring instrument) [noun] metre (unit of length)

(This term, 米, is an alternative spelling of the above terms.)

The use of this kanji is attested in the Meiji period and is an example of ateji (当て字), shortened from Mandarin 米突 (mǐtū), see Chinese section above.

• 瓦(グラム) (guramu, “gram”)
• 立(リットル) (rittoru, “litre”)

Kanji in this term
米
べい Grade: 2
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 米 (MC mejX).

• (Tokyo) べー [béꜜè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [be̞ː]

米(べい) • (bei) ^{←べい (bei)?}

1. rice
2. United States (abbreviation of アメリカ合衆国 (Amerika Gasshūkoku) and 亜米利加合衆国 (Amerika Gasshūkoku): a country in North America)

   米国(べいこく) (Beikoku, “US”)

   日米関係(にちべいかんけい) (Nichi-Bei kankei, “Japan–United States relations”)

3. America, the Americas] (abbreviation of アメリカ (Amerika) and 亜米利加 (Amerika): a supercontinent)

   南米(なんべい) (Nanbei, “South America”)

Kanji in this term
米
まい Grade: 2
goon

From Middle Chinese 米 (MC mejX).

• (Tokyo) まい [màí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ma̠i]

米(まい) • (mai) 

1. rice

From Middle Chinese 米 (MC mejX).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448	몡〯 (Yale: myěy)
Middle Korean
Text	Eumhun
	Gloss (hun)	Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[6]	ᄡᆞᆯ〮 (Yale: psól)	미〯 (Yale: mǐ)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [mi]
• Phonetic hangul: [미]

Wikisource

米 (eumhun 쌀 미 (ssal mi))

1. hanja form^? of 미 (“rice”) [affix]

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [7]

米 (*-moy?)

1. Apparently a verbal causative suffix; because, since

• This form is attested commonly in the hyangga poems of the first millennium, but nowhere else.
• In the twentieth century, this was conventionally compared to Modern Korean -으매 (-eumae, “because, since”), but this seems impossible given that the modern construction is a grammaticalization of elements not found in Old Korean, and is not attested in Middle Korean.
• Some scholars believe it is a mere orthographic variant of 㢱 (*-mye, connective suffix).

• 이용 (Yi-Yong) (1999) 연결 어미의 형성에 관한 연구 [yeon'gyeol eomiui hyeongseong'e gwanhan yeon'gu, Study of the formation of connective suffixes], Seoul City University (PhD), pages 144—146
• 김지오 (Kim Ji-o) (2019) “고대국어 연결어미 연구의 현황과 과제 [godaegugeo yeon'gyeoreomi yeon'guui hyeonhwanggwa gwaje, The conditions and future tasks of analyzing connective endings in Old Korean]”, in Gugyeol Yeon'gu, volume 43, pages 55–87

米: Hán Việt readings: mễ (莫(mạc)禮(lễ)切(thiết))^[1][2]
米: Nôm readings: mễ^[1][2][3][4], mè^[1]

米

1. chữ Hán form of mễ (“rice grains”)
2. chữ Nôm form of mè (“(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) sesame”)

米

1. chữ Hán form of Mễ: (Overseas Vietnamese or obsolete) Mexico (a country in North America)

• 米西基 (Mễ Tây Cơ, “Mexico”)