月

Usage notes
Do not confuse 月 with, a form of when used as the left-hand radical of a character. is used for parts of the body such as or. These may be written identically as 月, but in careful use they are distinguished, with the inside of ⺼ being written with unattached diagonal strokes. This is particularly an issue in looking up characters by radical; compare the 月 index and 肉 index.

Older/orthodox forms such as the Kangxi dictionary forms may additionally distinguish components that are related to neither nor, such as e.g. ,  or  where the two horizontal strokes  would be written as two unattached dots  instead. Also, the bottom part of components would be written as. The orthodox 月 and components, while similar, would still be distinguished slightly: they both use horizontal strokes, but  connects them to the  shape on both sides, and 月 only connects them on the left side.

Derived characters

 * Appendix:Chinese radical/月
 * 仴, 𫥂, 𠯲, 𪢻, 𫰒, 岄, 抈, 㳉, 阴, 明, 枂, 㱚, 玥, 迌, 𤰾, 眀, 䄴, 䎳, 䑚, 蚏, 䚴, 𧲩, 𧵂, 跀, 𨊸(䢁), 鈅(钥), 䩗, 𩢋, 𩵺(𬶈), 刖, 閒(𫔮), 朤

Glyph origin
– pictographic representation of a crescent moon. Compare.

Etymology 1
From, whence also , 🇨🇬 (whence 🇨🇬), 🇨🇬 (STEDT).

Various alternative etymologies have also been proposed:
 * proposes cognation with 🇨🇬 (as in and ), which  connects to 🇨🇬. However,  points out that the Tibetan word may be analyzed as a derivative of 🇨🇬, which would mean the semantic connection between “moon” and “face” had to occur either independently in Chinese and Tibetan or in Proto-Sino-Tibetan; it also requires positing a suffix  in Chinese.
 * proposes another etymology based on the glyph for (reconstructed as ), which he analyses as a phono-semantic compound of phonetic  and semantic . He suggests that the phonetic component represents a lost word, and reconstructs 月 as  (consonantal frame of “moon”) +  (suffix) > . However, there are more straightforward ways of explaining the glyph origin of  (see there), which would nullify the hypothesis of the lost word.
 * Related to in some way.
 * derives 月 from : . Also in this proposed word family is . The semantics of this word family is centred around "to pass; to elapse". While seems supportive of this word family, STEDT reconstructs 🇨🇬 for  and, separate from the root for 月.
 * reconstructs the 🇨🇬 as and puts it in a word family formed from a Chinese root, having a meaning of "circularity" or "circular boundary". This proposed word family includes , as in "to cross the enclosure of the village", and , as in "out of the enclosure of the village".

Definitions

 * 1)  moon
 * 2) moon-shaped; round like a moon
 * 3)  moonlight
 * 4) month
 * 5) monthly
 * 1) month
 * 2) monthly
 * 1) monthly
 * 1) monthly

Descendants
Others:

Etymology 1
→ * → * →

From, ultimately from.

For the vowel alternation, see WT:AJPX.

Noun

 * 1) the moon
 * 2)  a natural satellite
 * 3) moonlight, moonbeam
 * 4) a  with various designs of the moon
 * 5)  the Moon, the eighteenth trump or major arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks
 * 6) a month
 * 7)  a mistress on a monthly allowance
 * 8)  a menstrual cycle, menstruation believed to be caused by the moon
 * 1)  a mistress on a monthly allowance
 * 2)  a menstrual cycle, menstruation believed to be caused by the moon

Etymology 2
→ →

From.

Pronunciation

 * Some dictionaries apparently classify this reading as both and.

Suffix

 * 1) month of the year

Affix

 * 1) moon
 * 2) month

Usage notes
When used in most compounds or when counting a number of months with, 月 is pronounced. When used in compounds for modern months of the year, it is pronounced. When used for poetic or lunar months, it is pronounced.

Etymology 3
→

From.

Compare modern 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Counter

 * 1) a month
 * 2)  month of the year

Usage notes
When used in most compounds or when counting a number of months with, 月 is pronounced. When used in compounds for modern months of the year, it is pronounced. When used for poetic or lunar months, it is pronounced.

Noun

 * 1)  Monday

Affix

 * 1) moon
 * 2) month
 * 3) menstruation, menstrual cycle

Etymology 4
→

First attested in the.

Appears to be a poetic use of the reading, in reference to a rank of  in the Kansai region. According to a popular song, a prostitute cost one, a  prostitute cost two monme, and a  prostitute cost three monme.

Noun

 * 1)  during the Edo period, a low rank of low-end prostitute

Etymology 5
Either a shift in sense from the low-ranking prostitute meaning above, or a shift in pronunciation from.

Adjective

 * 1)  crude, unrefined, hickish

Noun

 * 1)  something that  is crude, unrefined, or hickish

Etymology
From.

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) the moon

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) the moon
 * 2) a month
 * 3)  Monday

Etymology 1
From, from.

Cognate with 🇨🇬.

Noun

 * 1) the moon
 * 2) a month

Noun

 * 1) month of the year

Suffix

 * 1) month of the year

Etymology 1
From.

Noun

 * 1) the moon
 * 2) a month
 * 3) a menstrual cycle, menstruation believed to be caused by the moon

Noun

 * 1)  the moon
 * 2)  a month

Compounds




Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) the moon

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) the moon