Pictographic in origin:
Early forms show the image of a person wearing a belt with a hole at the center for the sword handle, suggesting “the middle” or “central point.”
From the sense of being at the center, it developed into the meaning “middle, central.”
It is also the phonetic source for 

calamity, disaster, misfortune.

 (“calamity, misfortune”), reflecting the ancient belief that carrying a sword at the waist could bring trouble.

央 (앙) — center, middle
中央 (중앙) — the center, central
央求 (앙구) — to plead, to beg earnestly
央告 (앙고) — to request, to petition

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

outside, surface, exterior

many, a lot of

night, evening, darkness

dream

sky, heaven

large, great, big, excessive

man, husband

to divide, to cut apart

center, middle

to lose, to miss, to make a mistake

strange, unusual, uncanny, occult

to receive respectfully, to offer, to present

to report, to petition, to present or offer respectfully

to make a bond, to contract, to carve

to cover, to wrap, to encase, to put over

to be extravagant, luxurious, excessive

slave, servant, bondman

央

Etymology

Usage

Words containing this character 央

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External links