在

Glyph origin
Phonetic compound :.

Now.

在 was often visually identical to in the oracle bone script and some of the bronze inscriptions. It may be either a phonetic loan or a figurative derivative.

Etymology 1
Probably related to.

Definitions

 * 1) to exist; to be alive
 * 2) to be at; to be in; to be located
 * 3) be ...-ing; in the middle of doing something indicating an action in progress
 * 4) (located) in; at
 * 5) during; in
 * 6) to lie in; to rest with
 * 7) to be at the post
 * 8)  steady
 * 9)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1) (located) in; at
 * 2) during; in
 * 3) to lie in; to rest with
 * 4) to be at the post
 * 5)  steady
 * 6)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1) during; in
 * 2) to lie in; to rest with
 * 3) to be at the post
 * 4)  steady
 * 5)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1) to be at the post
 * 2)  steady
 * 3)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1)  steady
 * 2)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1)  steady
 * 2)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1)  steady
 * 2)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled
 * 1)  solid, confident, and collected under pressure; skilled

Synonyms






,

Etymology 1
From. Attested in compounds since at least the 900s.

Affix

 * 1)   at, in, located

Noun

 * 1)   countryside or outskirts

Etymology 2
Alternative spelling for, the Classical and Old Japanese copula.

Verb

 * 1) to exist, to be at

Usage notes

 * In both senses, it appears to have been wholly supplanted by the Middle Korean stage by >, which is already more common for the independent verbal sense in the early first millennium and is first attested as an auxiliary in 1262. The word is not found in Middle Korean outside the two derived terms given below.

Reconstruction notes

 * Conventionally read as because Middle Korean  manuals, which commonly preserve Old Korean readings, read this character as, which is clearly an inflected form with the realis gerund.
 * Although Old Korean writing does not mark pitch, the Middle Korean reflexes show rising pitch, which are the result of a merger of a low-pitch and high-pitch syllable. This means that the Old Korean verb stem was not in fact monosyllabic but really consisted of two syllables. However, this original pronunciation cannot be reconstructed.

Han character

 * 1) in