為

為 (radical 86, 火+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 戈大弓火 (IKNF), four-corner 2022₇)

• ゐ

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 669, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 18981
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 2198, character 11
• Unihan data for U+70BA

Historical forms of the character 爲
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu Slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Simplified from 爲.

In the oracle bone script, it is an ideogrammic compound (會意) : 又 (“hand”) + 象 (“elephant”) — a hand holding an elephant. The 又 later became 爪 (“hand; claw”).

Shuowen Jiezi interprets the character as a representation of the female macaque.

The two pronunciations below (“to make; to do; to be”, “for; to; because”) are cognate; the latter is the *–s derivative of the former. Words meaning “to make, to do” often have secondary meanings of “for, as” – compare 作.

Etymology not certain. Starostin compared this word with Tibetan བགྱིད (bgyid, “to make, to manufacture”), བགྱི་བ (bgyi ba, “action, deed”), ཡིན (yin, “is, be”) and Burmese ဝေ (we, “to distribute, to share”). Schuessler (2007) listed *ʔaajh (“to give”) (> Khmer ឲ្យ (ʾaoy, “to give, to donate”)) and Khmer ធ្វើ (thvəə, “to do, to make”), although the vowels do not match.

The graphic representation using a monkey or an elephant probably stems from a homophonic or near-homophonic etymon which was rarely attested; compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b/g-woj-n > Jingpho woi (“monkey”) and possibly 猿 (OC *ɢʷan, “ape”). STEDT considers this word to be a possible descendant of Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-gwi(j) (“elephant”). Outside Sino-Tibetan, compare Proto-Vietic *-vɔːj (“elephant”) > Vietnamese voi (“elephant”).

為

1. to do; to make

   • 見義不為，無勇也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     见义不为，无勇也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Jiàn yì bù wéi, wú yǒng yě. [Pinyin]

     To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.

2. (to turn, to transform) into; to
   • 分為 / 分为  ―  fēnwéi  ―  to divide into, to split into

   • 那兩個組織已合併為一個組織。 [MSC, trad.]
     那两个组织已合并为一个组织。 [MSC, simp.]

     Nà liǎng ge zǔzhī yǐ hébìng wéi yī ge zǔzhī. [Pinyin]

     Those two organizations have been amalgamated into single one.

   • 它將重新結晶為原來的結構。 [MSC, trad.]
     它将重新结晶为原来的结构。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā jiāng chóngxīn jiéjīng wéi yuánlái de jiégòu. [Pinyin]

     It will recrystallize into the original structure.

   • 他被晉升為上校。 / 他被晋升为上校。  ―  Tā bèi jìnshēng wéi shàngxiào.  ―  He was promoted to colonel.
3. to be (equivalent to, equal to)
   • 失業率為20%。 / 失业率为20%。  ―  Shīyèlǜ wéi 20%.  ―  Unemployment is running at 20 per cent.
   • 它的寬度為7米。 / 它的宽度为7米。  ―  Tā de kuāndù wéi 7 mǐ.  ―  It is 7 metres in width.
   • 一公斤為兩磅。 / 一公斤为两磅。  ―  Yī gōngjīn wéi liǎng bàng.  ―  A kilogram is two pounds.
4. to take something as
5. to act as; to serve as; to behave as

   • 其竹節度三尺，柔細可為索，亦以皮為麻。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     其竹节度三尺，柔细可为索，亦以皮为麻。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Tang Dynasty, Fan Chuo, Manshu, chapter 7, part 7

     Qí zhújié duó sān chǐ, róuxì kě wéi suǒ, yì yǐ pí wéi má. [Pinyin]

     Each joint measures three chi; thin and supple, it may be used as a rope, and its skin may also be used as linen.

6. as (in the capacity of)

為

1. for; to

   • 我能為你做點什麼嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
     我能为你做点什么吗？ [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ néng wèi nǐ zuò diǎn shénme ma? [Pinyin]

     What can I do for you?

   • 我真為你高興！ / 我真为你高兴！  ―  Wǒ zhēn wèi nǐ gāoxìng!  ―  I am really happy for you!

   • 他為自己的錯誤道歉。 [MSC, trad.]
     他为自己的错误道歉。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā wèi zìjǐ de cuòwù dàoqiàn. [Pinyin]

     He gave an apology for his mistake.

2. because of

   你為這生氣哦。 / 你为这生气哦。  ―  Nǐ wèi zhè shēngqì o.  ―  So that's what you're upset about?

3. for the sake of

   不為五斗米折腰 / 不为五斗米折腰  ―  bù wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo  ―  don't bow down for the sake of five pecks (or decalitres) of rice

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 爲)

1. do, perform, carry out

• Go-on: い (i, Jōyō)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}
• Kan-on: い (i, Jōyō)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}
• Kun: する (suru, 為る); ため (tame, 為); たり (tari, 為); つくる (tsukuru, 為る); なす (nasu, 為す); なり (nari, 為); なる (naru, 為る)
• Nanori: さだ (sada); しげ (shige); す (su); すけ (suke); た (ta); ち (chi); なり (nari); びい (bii); ゆき (yuki); よし (yoshi); より (yori)

From Old Japanese.

Used as 借音 (shakuon) kana for ⟨su⟩.

為 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 爲, irregular conjugation, hiragana す, rōmaji su)

1. (archaic) to do
2. (archaic) to cause, become

• する (suru)
• 為 (す)為 (す) (susu)

/wi/ → /i/

From Middle Chinese 為 (MC ɦˠiuᴇ).

為 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 爲, hiragana い, rōmaji i, historical hiragana ゐ)

1. the twelfth string on a koto (Japanese zither)
2. a fingering method for playing the shakuhachi (Japanese flute)

為 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 爲, hiragana い, rōmaji i, historical hiragana ゐ)

1. do; perform; carry out

為 (eum 위 (wi))

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為 (vi, vị)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.