Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

間 (radical 169 門+4, 12 strokes, cangjie input 日弓日 (ANA), four-corner 7760₇, composition ⿵門日)

References

• KangXi: page 1333, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41249
• Dae Jaweon: page 1839, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 7, page 4288, character 6
• Unihan data for U+9593

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 間
Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 門 ‎(“door”) + 日 ‎(“sun”). Originally 閒, moonlight peeking through a door, thus “between”.

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

間

1. room
   • 房間 / 房间  ―  fángjiān  ―  room
   • 衛生間 / 卫生间  ―  wèishēngjiān  ―  bathroom, toilet
   • 衣帽間 / 衣帽间  ―  yīmàojiān  ―  cloakroom
   • 雙人間 / 双人间  ―  shuāngrénjiān  ―  double room
2. within a definite time period or place
   • 時間 / 时间  ―  shíjiān  ―  time, period
   • 晚間 / 晚间  ―  wǎnjiān  ―  evening, night
   • 世間 / 世间  ―  shìjiān  ―  world, earth
   • 空間 / 空间  ―  kōngjiān  ―  space
3. section of a room; lateral space between two pairs of pillars
4. among; between
   • 小鳥們在樹枝間唱歌。 [MSC, trad.]
     小鸟们在树枝间唱歌。 [MSC, simp.]

     Xiǎo niǎo men zài shùzhī jiān chàng gē. [Pinyin]

     The birds were singing among the branches of the tree.

   • 兩個公司間的談判非常成功。 [MSC, trad.]
     两个公司间的谈判非常成功。 [MSC, simp.]

     Liǎng ge gōngsī jiān de tánpàn fēicháng chénggōng. [Pinyin]

     The negotiations between the two companies were successful.

   • 兩點間直線最短。 / 两点间直线最短。  ―  Liǎng diǎn jiān zhíxiàn zuì duǎn.  ―  The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
5. Classifier for smallest units of housing, such as rooms and shopfronts.
6. (Cantonese) Classifier for buildings in general, including schools, banks, cinemas, hospitals, shops, factories.

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

間

1. opening; gap; break
2. to separate; to partition
3. to alternate

Compounds

Japanese

Ryakuji for 間, based on ryakuji for 門; compare also 開.

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: けん (ken)
• Kan’on: かん (kan)
• Kun: あいだ (aida), ま (ma), あい (ai)
• Nanori: ちか (chika)

Compounds

• 間性 (かんせい) ‎(kansei): intersex
• 人間 (にんげん) ‎(ningen)
• 時間 (じかん) ‎(jikan)

References

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

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) あいだ [àídá] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [a̠ida̠]

Noun

間 ‎(hiragana あいだ, romaji aida, historical hiragana あひだ)

1. a space
2. a while; an interval
3. between
4. during

Derived terms

• この間 (あいだ) ‎(kono aida)
• 間中 (あいだじゅう) ‎(aidajū)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ま [mà] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ma̠]

Noun

間 ‎(hiragana ま, romaji ma)

1. space; room

Derived terms

• 床 (とこ)の間 (ま) ‎(toko no ma)
• 茶 (ちゃ)の間 (ま) ‎(cha no ma)
• 束 (つか)の間 (ま) ‎(tsukano ma)
• 間 (ま)に合 (あ)う ‎(ma ni au)

Synonyms

• 中 (なか) ‎(naka)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) あ​い [áꜜì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) あい [àí] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [a̠i]

Noun

間 ‎(hiragana あい, romaji ai, historical hiragana あひ)

1. interval

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 間 ‎(kɛn, “interval”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) か​ん [káꜜǹ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [kã̠ɴ]

Noun

間 ‎(hiragana かん, romaji kan)

1. interval

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 4 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Korean

Hanja

間 • ‎(gan)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 간 (revised: gan, McCune-Reischauer: kan, Yale: kan)

• Name (hangeul): 사이 (revised: sai, McCune-Reischauer: sai)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

間 (gian, dán, gián)

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

References

• Nom Foundation