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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

虎

hǔ
tiger (Classifier: 隻／只 mn)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 5
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 虍
  • 8 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Pictogram (象形). 虍 represents the tiger's head. The torso has disappeared and the legs and the tail have transformed into 人 in the small seal script and later 儿 in the clerical script.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-la (“tiger”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *kla(ː)ʔ (“tiger”). Cognate with 菟 (OC *lˤa) in 於菟 (OC *ʔˤa lˤa, “tiger”). Compare Vietnamese khái ("tiger").

Hill (2019) compares it to Tibetan སྟག (stag, “tiger”); however, Zheng Zining deems that comparison "probably spurious".

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese儿 “standing person”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*k-la “tiger”

Related: Vietnamese khái, Tibetan སྟག

Words built on it: 號

Meanings

character
  1. tiger (Classifier: 隻／只 mn)
  2. Tiger (Chinese zodiac sign)
  3. brave; fierce
  4. to show a stern or fierce look
  5. a surname
  6. overbold; stupid

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

虎：山獸之君。从虍，虎足象人足。象形。凡虎之屬皆从虎。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. →馬虎

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

How 虎 was written 字形演變

  1. 虎 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 虎 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 虎 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 虎 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 虎 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

  • 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
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 虎