米

米 (radical 119, 米+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 火木 (FD), four-corner 9090₄, composition ⿻丷木(GHJKV) or ⿻十⿱丷八(T) or ⿻丷⿻十八(T))

1. Kangxi radical #119, ⽶.

• Index:Chinese radical/米
• 迷 匊 屎 歯

• KangXi: page 906, character 31
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 26832
• Dae Jaweon: page 1331, character 28
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 5, page 3141, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7C73

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

Pictogram (象形) – rice kernels.

“uncooked rice; husked seed; etc.”

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma-j ~ mej (“rice; paddy”). Cognate with Garo mi, Atong (India) mai.

“metre”

Short for 米突 (mǐtū), from English metre.

米

1. hulled or husked uncooked rice
2. husked seed
3. grain-like things
4. (chiefly Cantonese) Short for 米粉 (mǐfěn, “rice vermicelli”).

   星洲炒米  ―  Xīngzhōu chǎomǐ  ―  Singapore-style noodles

5. metre

   我有一米九高。  ―  Wǒ yǒu yī mǐ jiǔ gāo.  ―  I'm 1.9 metres tall.

• (unit of length): 丈 (zhàng), 尺 (chǐ), 寸 (cùn), 分 (fēn)

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. husked rice grains
2. meter, metre (SI unit of length)
3. Short for 亜米利加 (Amerika): America, American, Americas, Americo-
4. Short for 亜米利加合衆国 (Amerika Gasshūkoku): the United States
5. eighty-eight-year-old

• Go-on: まい (mai, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: べい (bei, Jōyō)
• Kun: こめ (kome, 米, Jōyō); めめ (meme, 米); よね (yone, 米); メートル (mētoru, 米)
• Nanori: こん (kon); たから (takara); めい (mei)

⟨ko₂me₂⟩ → */kəməj/ → /kome/

From Old Japanese.

Many theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation:

• From 籠め (​kome), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 籠める (komeru, “do with one's heart”), from the way rice is farmed.
• From Proto-Austronesian *Səmay (“cooked rice”).[1]

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) こめ​ [kòméꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[2][3][4]
  • IPA^(key): [ko̞me̞]

米 (hiragana こめ, rōmaji kome)

1. rice (husked grains of the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa), one of the five grains

   Hypernym: 五穀 (gokoku)

• 五 (ご)穀 (こく) (gokoku, “five grains”): 米 (こめ) (kome, “rice”), 麦 (むぎ) (mugi, “wheat”), 粟 (あわ) (awa, “foxtail millet”), 黍 (きび) (kibi, “proso millet”), 豆 (まめ) (mame, “soybeans”)

• 飯 (いい) (ii, “cooked grains”)
• 稲 (イネ) (ine, “rice plant”)
• ご飯 (はん) (gohan, “cooked rice”)
• ライス (raisu)

米 (hiragana こめ, rōmaji Kome)

1. a female given name
2. a surname

⟨yo₂nai⟩ → */jənai/ → */jəne/ → /jone/

First attested in the Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE).

Possibly from Proto-Japonic *jənaC- (Vovin, 1998)[5] and related to 稲 (ine, “rice plant”).

Unknown "-C-" consonantal segment, reconstructed by Vovin, seems unlikely considering [a ~ e] vowel alternation:

Compare 藍 (awi → ai, “indigo”) from 青 (awo → ao, “blue”) + い (i, emphatic nominative particle)[6] against 白い /siroi/ from ⟨siro₁ki₁⟩.[7]

The colloquial sense is derived from the components of the 米 kanji: 八 (hachi, “eight”) + 十 (jū, “ten”) + 八 (hachi, “eight”).

米 (hiragana よね, rōmaji yone)

1. the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa

   Synonym: 稲 (ine)

2. rice (husked grains of the Asian rice plant, Oryza sativa)
3. (colloquial) an eighty-eight-year-old

   Synonym: 米寿 (beiju)

米 (hiragana よね, rōmaji Yone)

1. a female given name
2. a surname

First attested around the Edo period.

Probably a shortened reduplication of kome (see above). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

米 (hiragana めめ, rōmaji meme)

1. (colloquial) rice (husked grains of the rice plant)

Borrowing from French mètre.[2]

The use of this kanji is attested in the Meiji period and is an example of ateji (当て字), shortened from Mandarin 米突 (mǐtū), see Chinese section above.

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) メートル [mèétórú] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [me̞ːto̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

米 (katakana メートル, rōmaji mētoru)

1. Rare spelling of メートル (mētoru): meter, metre (SI unit of length)
2. Rare spelling of メーター (mētā): a device or implement used for measurement

• 瓦 (グラム) (guramu, “gram”)
• 立 (リットル) (rittoru, “liter, litre”)

1. Source: EDICT and KANJIDIC files licensed by the Electronic Dictionaries Research Group.

米 • (mi) (hangeul 미, McCune–Reischauer mi, Yale mi)

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

米: Hán Việt readings: mễ (莫(mạc)禮(lễ)切(thiết))[1][2]
米: Nôm readings: mễ[1][2][3][4], mè[1]

1. Hán tự form of mễ (“rice grains”).