犬
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Translingual
Stroke order | |||
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Alternative forms
- 犭 (when used as a left Chinese radical)
Although the alternative form clearly shows only three strokes, it is still counted as four strokes when using a Chinese dictionary. Compare 氵 from 水 (“water”), 扌 from 手 (“hand”), and 忄 from 心 (“heart”), all of which are 3-stroke forms from 4-stroke characters.
Han character
犬 (Kangxi radical 94, 犬+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 戈大 (IK), four-corner 43030, composition ⿺大丶)
- Kangxi radical #94, ⽝.
Derived characters
References
- Kangxi Dictionary: page 705, character 27
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20234
- Dae Jaweon: page 1118, character 14
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1331, character 1
- Unihan data for U+72AC
Chinese
simp. and trad. |
犬 |
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Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 犬 | |||||
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Shang | Western Zhou | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) | |
Bronze inscriptions | Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
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Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n (“dog”); cognate with Tibetan ཁྱི (khyi, “dog”), Burmese ခွေး (hkwe:, “dog”).
This common Sino-Tibetan word has been replaced by 狗 (OC *koːʔ) in most topolects except Min Dong, such as Fuzhou kēng. In other topolects, this word is mainly found in compounds and not used alone.
Pronunciation
Definitions

犬
- (formal or in compounds or Min Dong, Waxiang, dialectal Wu) dog
- 警犬 ― jǐngquǎn ― police dog
- 效馬效羊者右牽之;效犬者左牽之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Book of Rites, c. 4th – 2nd century BCE
- Xiào mǎ xiào yáng zhě yòu qiān zhī; xiào quǎn zhě zuǒ qiān zhī. [Pinyin]
- He who is presenting a horse or a sheep should lead it with his right hand. He who is presenting a dog should lead it with his left hand.
效马效羊者右牵之;效犬者左牵之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Synonyms
Compounds
- 使犬 (Shǐquǎn)
- 北極犬/北极犬
- 反犬旁 (fǎnquǎnpáng)
- 反犬旁兒/反犬旁儿 (fǎnquǎnpángr)
- 名犬
- 哮天犬 (xiàotiānquǎn)
- 喪家之犬/丧家之犬 (sàngjiāzhīquǎn)
- 嚮導犬/向导犬
- 土雞瓦犬/土鸡瓦犬
- 大犬星座
- 尋回犬/寻回犬 (xúnhuíquǎn)
- 小犬 (xiǎoquǎn)
- 德國狼犬/德国狼犬
- 惡犬/恶犬 (èquǎn)
- 悲犬咸陽/悲犬咸阳
- 放鷹逐犬/放鹰逐犬
- 東門黃犬/东门黄犬
- 柴犬 (cháiquǎn)
- 桀犬吠堯/桀犬吠尧
- 淮南雞犬/淮南鸡犬
- 烹犬藏弓
- 牧羊犬 (mùyángquǎn)
- 犬不夜吠
- 犬儒學派/犬儒学派
- 犬兔俱斃/犬兔俱毙
- 犬吠之盜/犬吠之盗
- 犬吠之警
- 犬子 (quǎnzǐ)
- 犬彘
- 犬彘之食
- 犬戎 (Quǎnróng)
- 犬母
- 犬牙 (quǎnyá)
- 犬牙交錯/犬牙交错 (quǎnyájiāocuò)
- 犬牙差互
- 犬牙盤石/犬牙盘石
- 犬牙相制
- 犬牙相臨/犬牙相临
- 犬牙相錯/犬牙相错
- 犬牙鷹爪/犬牙鹰爪
- 犬馬/犬马 (quǎnmǎ)
- 犬馬之力/犬马之力 (quǎnmǎzhīlì)
- 犬馬之勞/犬马之劳 (quǎnmǎzhīláo)
- 犬馬之命/犬马之命
- 犬馬之報/犬马之报 (quǎnmǎzhībào)
- 犬馬之年/犬马之年
- 犬馬之心/犬马之心
- 犬馬之戀/犬马之恋
- 犬馬之疾/犬马之疾
- 犬馬之養/犬马之养
- 犬馬戀主/犬马恋主
- 犬馬齒殲/犬马齿歼
- 犬馬齒窮/犬马齿穷
- 犬馬齒索/犬马齿索
- 犬齒/犬齿 (quǎnchǐ)
- 狂犬病 (kuángquǎnbìng)
- 狼犬
- 獒犬
- 獵犬/猎犬 (lièquǎn)
- 獵犬座/猎犬座 (Lièquǎnzuò)
- 畫虎成犬/画虎成犬
- 畫虎類犬/画虎类犬
- 盧犬/卢犬
- 粵犬吠雪/粤犬吠雪
- 義犬/义犬
- 聲色犬馬/声色犬马 (shēngsèquǎnmǎ)
- 臺灣犬/台湾犬
- 蜀犬吠日 (shǔquǎnfèirì)
- 蝴蝶犬 (húdiéquǎn)
- 見兔顧犬/见兔顾犬
- 警犬 (jǐngquǎn)
- 豚兒犬子/豚儿犬子
- 豚犬 (túnquǎn)
- 越犬吠雪
- 跖犬吠堯/跖犬吠尧
- 軍犬/军犬 (jūnquǎn)
- 邑犬群吠
- 野犬 (yěquǎn)
- 陶犬瓦雞/陶犬瓦鸡
- 雞犬不寧/鸡犬不宁 (jīquǎnbùníng)
- 雞犬不留/鸡犬不留
- 雞犬不驚/鸡犬不惊 (jīquǎnbùjīng)
- 雞犬俱升/鸡犬俱升
- 雞犬升天/鸡犬升天 (jīquǎnshēngtiān)
- 雞犬桑麻/鸡犬桑麻
- 雞犬皆仙/鸡犬皆仙
- 雞犬相聞/鸡犬相闻
- 雞鳴犬吠/鸡鸣犬吠
- 顧犬補牢/顾犬补牢
- 飛鷹走犬/飞鹰走犬
- 驢鳴犬吠/驴鸣犬吠
- 鬆獅犬/松狮犬 (sōngshīquǎn)
- 鬥犬/斗犬
- 鷹犬/鹰犬 (yīngquǎn)
- 黃犬音/黄犬音
Descendants
- Bai: *qʰuaŋ²
References
- “犬”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database), 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
Further reading
- Victor Mair, "Of dogs and Old Sinitic reconstructions" on Language Log (March 7, 2018)
Japanese
Readings
Compounds
- 一犬 (ikken): one dog
- 雌犬 (mesuinu)
- 雄犬 (oinu), 牡犬 (oinu)
- 家犬 (ieinu)
- 野犬 (yaken)
- 子犬 (koinu), 小犬 (koinu), 仔犬 (koinu)
- 愛犬 (aiken)
- 犬ちゃん (inu-chan)
- 秋田犬 (Akita inu), 秋田犬 (Akita ken)
- 土佐犬 (Tosa inu), 土佐犬 (Tosa inu)
- 柴犬 (Shiba inu), 柴犬 (Shiba ken)
- 猟犬 (ryōken)
- 狛犬 (komainu)
- 狩猟犬 (shuryōken)
- 警察犬 (keisatsuken)
- 攻撃犬 (kōgekiken)
- 三頭犬 (santōken)
- 犬張子 (inuhariko, “papier-mâché dog doll”)
- 老犬 (rōken): old dog
- 豚犬 (tonken): pig and dog; fool; my child
- 犬吠 (kenbai): the barking of a dog, or the sound thereof
- 駄犬 (daken): mongrel dog
- 雑犬 (zakken): mongrel dog
- 番犬 (banken)
- 警備犬 (keibiken)
- 探知犬 (tanchiken)
- 救助犬 (kyūjoken)
- 死体犬 (shitaiken)
- 麻薬犬 (mayakuken)
- 放火犬 (hōkaken)
- 盲導犬 (mōdōken)
- 聴導犬 (chōdōken)
- 介助犬 (kaijoken)
- 犬猿の仲 (ken'en no naka)
- 犬神 (inugami)
- 山犬 (yamainu)
- 鬣犬 (tategamiinu): hyena
- 犬歯 (kenshi, “canine tooth”)
Etymology

Kanji in this term |
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犬 |
いぬ Grade: 1 |
kun’yomi |
Alternative spelling |
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狗 |
From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *enu. Derivation uncertain. Various theories exist, including derivation from ancient verb 往ぬ (inu, “to leave, to be gone”), from the way a dog will guard the house while the master is away; from a compound of 家 (ie, “house, home”) + 寝 (nu, “to sleep”, ancient monosyllabic form of modern 寝る neru); from ancient Japanese 狗 (enu < wenu, “puppy, dog”), itself of uncertain derivation; or as a borrowing from some other unknown language.
Noun
Usage notes
As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as イヌ.
Descendants
- → Yami: ino
Korean
Etymology
From Middle Chinese 犬 (MC khwenX).
Historical Readings | ||
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Dongguk Jeongun Reading | ||
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 | ᄏᆑᆫ〯 (Yale: khyyěn) | |
Middle Korean | ||
Text | Eumhun | |
Gloss (hun) | Reading | |
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527 | 가히〮 (Yale: kàhí) | 견〯 (Yale: kyěn) |
Pronunciation
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [kjʌ̹n]
- Phonetic hangul: [견]
Derived terms
Northern Amami-Oshima
Okinawan
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ʔiŋ̍]
Compounds
- 犬子 (ingwā, “puppy, small dog”)
References
- “いん【犬】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
Southern Amami-Oshima
Vietnamese
References
- Nguyễn et al. (2009).
- Trần (2004).
- Bonet (1899).
- Génibrel (1898).