苦
- suffering, pain;
Etymology
A phono-semantic compound character combining:
艸 (초, “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.”
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
- 고역(苦役)–toil; drudgery
- 고전(苦戰)–desperate struggle; tough game; fighting hard
- 노고(勞苦)–labor
- 학수고대(鶴首苦待)–looking forward to; waiting eagerly for
Neighboring characters in the dictionary
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