乾
- to dry, to wither, to parch;
- heaven, sky (as in the Eight Trigrams, 乾卦);
Etymology
Phono-semantic compound:
乙 (을, bent shape) – semantic element.
倝 (간, “morning sunlight”) – phonetic element.
Although it resembles a compound of 𠦝 and 乞, the accepted analysis follows the structure 乙 + 倝.
Usage in Korean
乾燥 (건조) — dryness, to dry
乾坤 (건곤) — heaven and earth (cosmic duality)
乾隆 (건륭) — reign title of a Qing emperor
乾杯 (건배) — “cheers!” (lit. empty the cup)
Words that derived from 乾
Additional notes
In Chinese simplification:
When meaning to dry: 干 is used as the simplified form (e.g., 干燥 for 乾燥).
When meaning heaven/trigram: 乾 remains unchanged (e.g., 乾坤).
In the I Ching, 乾 represents heaven, creativity, and yang (陽).
Related characters: 干 (to shield, stem), 幹 (trunk, main), 倝 (sunrise).
乾
하늘
건
haneul
geon
Kangxi radical:5, 乙 + 10
Strokes:11
Unicode:U+4E7E
Cangjie input:
- 十十人弓 (JJON)
Composition:
- ⿰ 龺 乞