良 is an ideograph, originally depicting a person kneeling within a shelter or house, signifying someone who is proper, good, or well-behaved. Over time it generalized to mean “good, virtuous, suitable, favorable.”

It conveys moral goodness as well as general excellence or suitability:
양심 (良心) – conscience, good heart
양민 (良民) – good/common people
양약 (良藥) – good medicine (often in the proverb: “Good medicine tastes bitter”)
선량 (善良) – virtuous, good-natured
불량 (不良) – bad, faulty, delinquent
양호 (良好) – good, favorable

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

membrane, thin film, layer

food, meal, to eat, to offer food, to prepare food

navel, belly button

internal organs

to face, to overlook, to appear, to be present, to preside over, temporary, provisional

platform, stand, terrace

to pound, to crush, to stamp

old, ancient, former, previous

good, virtuous, kind, fine

flower

suffering, pain

flower, corolla (the petals of a flower), outstanding, excellent

chrysanthemum

flower, to blossom, to shine, splendid, magnificent

ten thousand, 10.000, ten-thousandth

to fall, to drop, to let fall

to appear, to become manifest

Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

良

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Characters next to each other in the list