Wiktionary

微

See also: 徵, 徴, and 徹
微 U+5FAE, 微
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5FAE
← 徭
[U+5FAD] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 徯 →
[U+5FAF]

Translingual

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Japanese 微
Simplified 微
Traditional 微

Alternative forms

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Note that the middle component is written as 𡵂 (⿳山一几) in simplified Chinese and Korean. In Japanese, the middle component is written as 𡵉 (⿱山兀). In traditional Chinese, the middle component is written (⿳山一儿), as found in the Kangxi dictionary.

Han character

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微 (Kangxi radical 60, 彳+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 竹人山弓大 (HOUNK) or 竹人山山大 (HOUUK), four-corner 28240, composition ⿰彳𢼸(GK) or ⿰彳𣁋(TJV))

Derived characters

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 370, character 12
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10203
  • Dae Jaweon: page 696, character 15
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 837, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+5FAE

Chinese

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trad. 微
simp. # 微
2nd round simp. 𡵉
alternative forms 㣲
𢕧
𢼸

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 微
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script
 
Characters in the same phonetic series (微) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
矀 *mrɯl, *mɯl
覹 *mrɯl
黴 *mrɯl, *mɯːls
薇 *mrɯl, *mɯl
媺 *mrɯlʔ
微 *mɯl
溦 *mɯl
癓 *mɯl
徽 *hmɯl
幑 *hmɯl

In oracle bone script, it may be written as 𡵂 or 𢼸.

The former is a variant of 美 (OC *mriʔ), borrowed for sound, pictogram (象形) of a person with long hair.

The latter an ideogrammic (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯl) : phonetic 𡵂 (OC *mriʔ) + semantic 攵 (“hand with tool”) – splitting or combing hairs; minute. Possibly the original form of 媺 (OC *mrɯlʔ).

彳 (OC *tʰeɡ) was added to emphasize action to create the modern form.

Etymology

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"not; no"
The negative root *m + 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”) (Pulleybank, 1995).
"small"
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mwəj (“fine; delicate”) (STEDT). Cognate with Burmese မွေ့ (mwe., “delicate”).

Pronunciation 1

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Rime
Character 微
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4)
Final (韻) 微 (21)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 無非切
Baxter mj+j
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/mʉi/
Pan
Wuyun 		/mʷɨi/
Shao
Rongfen 		/miuəi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/muj/
Li
Rong 		/miuəi/
Wang
Li 		/mĭwəi/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/mwe̯i/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		wéi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		mei4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 微
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		wēi
Middle
Chinese 		‹ mjɨj ›
Old
Chinese 		/*məj/
English small

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 微
Reading # 1/1
No. 12801
Phonetic
component 		微
Rime
group 		微
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		微
Old
Chinese 		/*mɯl/

Definitions

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微

  1. tiny; small; trifling
  2. to decline; to deteriorate
  3. humble; low-ranking
  4. slight; gentle
  5. slightly; gently
  6. † to not have
  7. [from 19th c., officially from 1981 (PRC), 1985 (ROC)] micro- (SI unit prefix)
  8. (～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 微 (MC mj+j)
  9. (～日) (telegraphy) the fifth day of a month

Compounds

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See also

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SI prefix
Last Next
毫 (háo) 微 奈/納／奈/纳
Chinese historical small numbers
Value Character Notes
10-1 分 (fèn) Still in use. SI prefix deci-.
10-2 厘 (lí), 釐 (lí) Still in use. SI prefix centi-.
10-3 毫 (háo) Still in use. SI prefix milli-. Also 毛 (máo).
10-4 絲／丝 (sī) Rarely used today.
秒 (miǎo) Obsolete, only in ancient texts.
10-5 忽 (hū) Rarely used today.
10-6 微 (wēi) Still in use. SI prefix micro-.
10-7 纖／纤 (xiān) Obsolete.
10-8 沙 (shā) Obsolete.
10-9 塵／尘 (chén) Obsolete. 納／纳 (nà) and 奈 (nài) are used for nano-.
10-10 埃 (āi) Obsolete. In modern use, the character for angstrom (10-10 m).
10-11 渺 (miǎo) Obsolete.
10-12 漠 (mò) Obsolete. 皮 (pí) is used for SI prefix pico-.

Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (微):
  • → Japanese: 微(み) (mi); 微(び) (bi)
  • → Korean: 미(微) (mi)
  • → Vietnamese: vi (微)

Pronunciation 2

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Definitions

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微 (Southern Min)

  1. (mouth, eyes, etc.) to close slightly
  2. a little

Compounds

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Japanese

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Kanji

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微

(Jōyō kanji)

  1. delicate

Readings

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  • Go-on: み (mi)
  • Kan-on: び (bi, Jōyō)
  • Kun: かすか (kasuka, 微か)、ちいさい (chīsai, 微さい)、わずか (wazuka)

Etymology 1

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Affix

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微(び) • (bi) 

  1. tiny; small; minute

Etymology 2

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Affix

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微(み) • (mi) 

  1. tiny; small; minute

Korean

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Hanja

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微 (eumhun 작을 미 (jageul mi))

  1. hanja form? of 미 (“small, few, little, hidden”)

微 (eumhun 자질구레할 미 (jajilgurehal mi))

  1. hanja form? of 미 (“minor, trivial, trifling”)

Vietnamese

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Han character

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微: Hán Nôm readings: vi

  1. chữ Hán form of vi (“micro-”).

Zhuang

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Noun

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微

  1. Sawndip form of feiz (“fire”)
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