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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

能

néng
a kind of bear
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 肉
  • 10 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

The character 能 is a pictogram of a bear or a mythological bear-like animal with deer-like legs. In its graphic form, two paws are visible as the component 匕, while the face with an open mouth is stylized as 月. The Shuowen Jiezi describes it as a member of the bear family with legs resembling those of a deer.

The meaning of 'ability' or 'can' is possibly of Proto-Sino-Tibetan origin, which STEDT tentatively reconstructs as *m-nyaŋ. This is supported by cognates in Tibetan ནུས (to be able to; capable; strength) and Burmese နိုင် (can, be able to; master). It is also compared to an old pre-Sino–Vietnamese loanword nổi, meaning 'be able to; capable'.

Schuessler (2007) derives 態 (OC *n̥ʰɯːs, 'apparition, bearing, manner') from this same root, as well as 忍 (OC *njɯnʔ, 'to suffer, endure').

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「能」在字義上指一種熊，或是具有鹿腿的神話熊類動物。從字形構成來看，這是一個象形字，其中包含一對形如 匕 的爪子，以及一個以 月 表現出的開口臉部。根據《說文解字》的記載，此字屬於熊屬，足部形似鹿，字形由肉與㠯組成聲符。由於這種動物性格堅強，因此引申出「賢能」之意；因其強壯，則稱之為「能傑」。

在語源上，此字可能源自原始漢藏語（Proto-Sino-Tibetan），該語被暫定重構為 *m-nyaŋ。此重構形式與藏語的 ནུས（意為能夠、有能力、力量）以及緬甸語的 နိုင်（意為可以、能夠、勝過）互為同源詞。此外，此字也可能與舊的前越語借詞 nổi 有關。Schuessler (2007) 亦認為 態（上古音 *n̥ʰɯːs）與 忍（上古音 *njɯnʔ）皆源自此詞。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • partChinese厶 “private”
  • partChinese月 “moon (Classifier: 輪／轮 m)”
  • partChinese匕 “a kind of spoon in ancient China”

Related: Tibetan ནུས, Burmese နိုင်

Words built on it: 可能, 能力, 功能, 才能, 只能, 態, 能量, 技能, 性能, 智能, 能夠

Wiktionary etymology text

Pictogram (象形): a bear. Compare 熊 (OC *ɢʷlɯm, “bear”). In the character, two paws are visible as a pair of 匕 and the face with the open mouth is stylized as 月.

; "bear-like animal"

; “be able to; can; ability”

: Possibly Proto-Sino-Tibetan (which STEDT tentatively reconstructs as *m-nyaŋ (“can, be able”)): compare Tibetan ནུས (nus, “to be able to; capable; to withstand; capacity; strength; force; power; function; energy”), Burmese နိုင် (nuing, “can, be able to, may; master; win; prevail”). Schuessler (2007) also derives 態 (OC *n̥ʰɯːs, “apparition, bearing, manner”) from this; see also 忍 (OC *njɯnʔ, “to suffer, endure”).

: Compare the old pre-Sino–Vietnamese loanword nổi (“be able to; capable”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. a kind of bear
  2. a mythological bear-like animal, with deer-like legs.
  3. able; capable
  4. can; to be able to; to be capable of; to be allowed to
  5. to successfully do something (negate with 沒／没 (méi))
  6. cocky

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

能：熊屬。足似鹿。从肉㠯聲。能獸堅中，故稱賢能；而彊壯，稱能傑也。凡能之屬皆从能。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 能力、才幹。 例：智能、技能、逞能
  2. 有才能的。 例：能人、能者多勞
  3. 有才能的人。 例：選賢與能
  4. 用途、功用。 例：功能
  5. 物質運動的能量。因運動形式不同而有電能、熱能、機械能、化學能、原子能等。能量間可互相轉換，以功率為計算單位。
  6. 可以。 例：能夠

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 能 was written 字形演變

  1. 能 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 能 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 能 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  4. 能 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 能 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 能