苦
- suffering, pain;
Etymology
A phono-semantic compound character combining:
艸 (grass) - provides the meaning (plants, herbs);
古 (고, old) - provides the sound.
Because many plants taste bitter, the character came to mean “(taste is) bitter.”
From this literal meaning, it expanded metaphorically to signify “to suffer,” “to be in pain,” “to endure hardship.”
Usage in Korean
고통 (苦痛) — pain; suffering
고생 (苦生) — hardship; suffering in life
고난 (苦難) — adversity; ordeal
고심 (苦心) — mental anguish; deep worry
고행 (苦行) — ascetic practice; severe discipline
고약 (苦藥) — bitter medicine
고미 (苦味) — bitter taste
Words that derived from 苦
- 고난(苦難)–hardship; trouble; suffering; difficulty; adversity; trial; ordeal
- 고대(苦待)–eager waiting
- 고민(苦悶)–worry; anguish
- 고민되다(苦悶되다)–agonize; writhe
- 고민하다(苦悶하다)–agonize; writhe
- 고생(苦生)–trouble; hardship
- 고생길(苦生길)–arduous path
- 고소(苦笑)–bitter smile
- 고소하다(苦笑하다)–make a bitter smile
- 고역(苦役)–toil; drudgery
- 고전(苦戰)–desperate struggle; tough game; fighting hard
- 고통(苦痛)–pain
- 노고(勞苦)–labor
- 학수고대(鶴首苦待)–looking forward to; waiting eagerly for
Additional notes
Related characters:
辛 — spicy; hardship
痛 — pain
悲 — sorrow
難 — difficulty
甘 — sweet (semantic opposite)
In Buddhist doctrine, 苦 (duḥkha) is a core concept:
苦 — suffering
集 — origin of suffering
滅 — cessation
道 — path
Together these form the Four Noble Truths (四諦). Here, 苦 means not only pain but existential unsatisfactoriness.
The metaphor “bitter medicine cures illness” (良藥苦口) is culturally widespread.
Classical citations
《孟子》 (Mencius)
「苦其心志，勞其筋骨。」
“He makes their minds suffer and their bodies toil.”
《詩經》 (Book of Odes)
「民之多苦。」
“The people suffer greatly.”
「先苦後樂。」
“Bitter first, joy later” — Classical proverb
- 廿十口 (TJR)
- ⿱ 艹 古
