虫

See also: 蟲
虫 U+866B, 虫
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-866B
← 虪
[U+866A] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 虬 →
[U+866C]

Translingual
Stroke order

Han character

虫 (radical 142, 虫+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 中一戈 (LMI), four-corner 50136, composition ⿱中⿰㇀丶)

  1. Kangxi radical #142, ⾍.

Derived characters

References
  • KangXi: page 1076, character 19
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32804
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1545, character 7
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2833, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+866B

Chinese

Glyph origin
A venomous snake, from which this character originated.
Historical forms of the character 虫
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (兀) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
虺 *hŋuːl, *hŋruːl, *hŋlulʔ
豗 *hŋuːl
鼿 *hŋuːl, *ŋuːd
虫 *hŋlulʔ
髡 *ŋ̊ʰuːn
軏 *ŋod, *ŋuːd
扤 *ŋod, *ŋuːd
兀 *ŋuːd
杌 *ŋuːd
屼 *ŋuːd
矹 *ŋluːd

Pictogram (象形) : a snake.

The character originally represented a type of venomous snake, while the derivative 蟲 represented worms and insects (or insect-like things). 虫 was later borrowed for 蟲 (possibly via simplification), and the character 虺 was created to represent the original meaning.

Etymology 1
For pronunciation and definitions of 虫 – see 蟲 (“insect; bug; animal; etc.”).
(This character, 虫, is the simplified and variant form of 蟲.)
Notes:

Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of 虫 – see 虺 (“venomous snake; sick; ambitionless”).
(This character, 虫, is an ancient form of 虺.)

Japanese

Shinjitai

 虫

Kyūjitai

 蟲

Kanji
虫

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 蟲)

  1. insect, bug
  2. generic name for animals

Readings

As shinjitai form of 蟲:

As the ancient form of 虺:

Compounds
Compounds

Etymology
Kanji in this term
虫
むし
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

/musi/ → /muɕi/

Pronunciation

Noun

虫 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 蟲, hiragana むし, katakana ムシ, rōmaji mushi)

  1. a bug, insect, worm
    Synonym: 昆虫 (konchū)
  2. a serpent, snake
    獅 (し)子 (し)身 (しん)中 (ちゅう)の虫 (むし)
    shishi shinchū no mushi
    a serpent in a lion
    Synonym: 蛇 (hebi)
  3. (figurative): a worm (person living for only one thing)
    本 (ほん)の虫 (むし)
    hon no mushi
    a bookworm
  4. (derogatory): a worm (despicable person)
    泣 (な)き虫 (むし)
    nakimushi
    a sobbing worm; a blubberer
  5. a temperament (thought which is in the deep in mind) (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
    癇 (かん)の虫 (むし)
    kan no mushi
    a choleric temperament
  6. (archaic) a male lover
    Synonyms: 愛人 (aijin), 情夫 (jōfu), 隠し男 (kakushi-otoko)

Derived terms
Derived terms

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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