漢字Kanji · in Time & Sequence
外: outside
卜 carries the meaning · 夕 carries meaning and sound
Oracle bone · Shang Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Six readings, and the words that use each
ガイgai · on'yomi · in compounds
- 外国がいこくforeign country
- 外部がいぶthe outside
- 国外こくがいoutside the country
- 海外旅行かいがいりょこうoverseas travel
- 意外ないがいなsurprising
- 外食するがいしょくするeat out
- 外出するがいしゅつするgo out
ゲge · on'yomi
- 外科げかsurgical department
そとsoto · kun'yomi · on its own
- 外そとoutside
ほかhoka · kun'yomi
- 思いの外おもいのほかunexpected
はずすhazusu · kun'yomi
- 外すはずすremove [v.t.]
はずれるhazureru · kun'yomi
- 外れるはずれるbe disconnected [v.i.]
Also read と-, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)卜 (meaning) + 月 (sound)
Source: Wiktionary, 外 (rev. 92722510), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Evening (夕) + divining/stick (卜). Originally suggested "divining" the future by looking at the "evening" sky from "outside" the house.”
Connections
The 夕 sound family doesn't share one reading.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · wài
Same form: 外 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 外 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 外 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin wài most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.