Phonosemantic compound. 卜 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound.
Components
卜 Iconic component
bo divination
see 蘿蔔|萝卜[luóbo]
Depicts the cracks on the outside of a turtle shell.
月 Phonetic component
yuè month
moon
Looks like 夕, which is also a pictograph of a moon.
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Similar Characters
仆 to fall forward (simp)卟 a chemical compound扑 strike (simp)攴 rap朴 Piao (surname) (simp)补 mend (simp)訃 obituary (trad/jp)讣 obituary (simp)赴 go to钋 polonium (simp)卦 trigram占 tell fortunes (simp)斦 chopping block (iii)畏 be afraid of处 department (simp)盐 salt (iii) (simp)圤 刖 cutting off feet塍 Path A Raised Path炙 broil
Historical Evolution
外
Oracle
(~1250-1000 BC)
外
Bronze
Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
外
Bronze
Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)
外
Bronze
Late Warring States (~250 BC)
外
Seal
Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
外
Bronze
Warring States (475-221 BC)
外
Seal
Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
外
Seal
Shuowen (~100 AD)
外
Seal
Shuowen (~100 AD)
外
Clerical
Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
外
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
外
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
外
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
外
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
外
Regular
Modern
Chinese
外 [wài]
outside; in addition; foreign; external
Japanese
noun
- another place; somewhere else; strange parts
- outside (one's family or group); someone else; other people
- not caring for; being indifferent to; taking little notice of; ignoring; neglecting (as 〜をよそに, 〜をよそにして, etc.)
noun
- outside; exterior
- the open (air)
- other place; somewhere else; outside one's group (family, company, etc.)
outside ...; beyond ...; not included in ...
noun
- another place; some other place; somewhere else; outside
- another (person or thing); other; different; something else; someone else; the rest; et al.
- beyond (one's expectations, imagination, etc.); outside (esp. 外)
- except; but; other than; apart from (with neg. sentence; as ...ほかに...ない, ...するほかない, etc.)
- besides; in addition to; as well as; on top of (as ...のほか(に), ...するほか(に)etc.)
Example Sentences
🇯🇵 (12)
ここの人たちはよそから来た人をみな嫌う。
These people hate all foreigners.
あるものの意味がわかるためには、そのものの外に出て、離れたところからそれを経験することができなければならない。
You have to be outside something, able to experience it from a distance, before it makes sense.
いつもと変えてたまに外で食事しよう。
Let's occasionally change where we go to eat out.
うちはうち、そとはそと。
Our house, our rules.
Japanese Names
外 そで
Sode place namesurname
外 そと
Soto surname
外 と
To place name
外 との
Tono place name
外 ほか
Hoka surname
CHINESE WORDS (200)
另外 [lìngwài] #764
additional
外面 [wàimiàn] #585
outside (also pr. [wàimian] for this sense)
意外 [yìwài] #1,137
unexpected
之外 [zhīwài] #2,207
outside
此外 [cǐwài] #6,134
besides
国外 [guówài] #6,227
abroad
国外 [guówài] #6,227
abroad
以外 [yǐwài] #2,869
apart from
外套 [wàitào] #2,697
coat
外国 [wàiguó] #5,673
foreign (country)
190 more
items
JAPANESE WORDS (200)
⭐ 以外 [いがい] #307
excluding
⭐ 他 [ほか] #495
another place
⭐ 意外 [いがい] #751
unexpected
⭐ 他に [ほかに] #952
else
⭐ 外す [はずす] #1,048
to remove
⭐ 外れる [はずれる] #2,062
to be disconnected
⭐ 案外 [あんがい] #2,577
unexpectedly
⭐ その他 [そのほか] #2,911
the rest
⭐ 外出 [がいしゅつ] #2,963
going out
⭐ 海外 [かいがい] #2,982
foreign
190 more
items
KOREAN WORDS (95)
외과 #1,285
surgery; department of surgery
흉부외과 #6,933
thoracic surgery; department of thoracic surgery
외부 #7,428
outside; being external; exterior
외계 #8,158
outer world; external world
신경외과 #8,188
neurosurgery; department of neurosurgery
외국 #9,591
foreign country
외출 #12,398
going out; outing
외국인 #13,772
foreigner
정형외과 #15,382
orthopedics; department of orthopedics
호외 #16,933
extra; special edition
85 more
items