• fruit;
  • result, outcome;
  • decisive, resolute;

Etymology

Pictograph (originally debated as ideograph or compound):

木 (tree) with multiple 口 (fruit shapes) above – representing a tree laden with fruit.

In oracle bone script, it depicted fruit borne on a tree.

From “fruit” (literal), the meaning extended metaphorically to “result, outcome” and “to act decisively.”

Usage in Korean

과일 (果實) – fruit

결과 (結果) – result, outcome

과연 (果然) – indeed, just as expected

과감 (果敢) – resolute, bold

Additional notes

Closely related character: 實 (fruit, reality, substance).

In early Chinese simplification (二簡字), 果 was once used to replace 裹 (“wrap in grain”) due to phonetic overlap, but this usage was later abolished.

열매
yeolmae
gwa
Kangxi radical:75, + 4
Strokes:8
Unicode:U+679C
Cangjie input:
  • 田木 (WD)
Composition:
  • ⿻ 日 木

Characters next to each other in the list

References