微

See also: 徵, 徴, and 徹

微	U+5FAE, 微 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5FAE

← 徭
[U+5FAD]

CJK Unified Ideographs

徯 →
[U+5FAF]

Translingual

Japanese	微
Simplified	微
Traditional	微

Alternative forms

Note that the middle component is written as 𡵂 (⿳山一几) in simplified Chinese and Korean. In Japanese, the middle component is written as 𡵉 (⿱山兀). In traditional Chinese, the middle component is written (⿳山一儿), as found in the Kangxi dictionary.

Han character

微 (Kangxi radical 60, 彳+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 竹人山弓大 (HOUNK) or 竹人山山大 (HOUUK), four-corner 2824₀, composition ⿰彳𢼸(GK) or ⿰彳𣁋(TJV))

Derived characters

䉠, 黴, 徽, 徵, 鰴, 幑, 覹, 溦

References

KangXi: page 370, character 12

Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10203

Dae Jaweon: page 696, character 15

Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 837, character 10

Unihan data for U+5FAE

Chinese

trad.		微
simp. ^#		微
2nd round simp.		𡵉
alternative forms		㣲𢕧𢼸

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (微) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
矀	mrɯl, mɯl
覹	*mrɯl
黴	mrɯl, mɯːls
薇	mrɯl, mɯl
媺	*mrɯlʔ
微	*mɯl
溦	*mɯl
癓	*mɯl
徽	*hmɯl
幑	*hmɯl

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *mɯl) : semantic 彳 + phonetic 𢼸 ().

Etymology

"not; no": The negative root *m + 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”) (Pulleybank, 1995).
"small": From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mwəj (“fine; delicate”) (STEDT). Cognate with Burmese မွေ့ (mwe., “delicate”).

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wēi, wéi
(Zhuyin): ㄨㄟ, ㄨㄟˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁴
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): mì
(Meixian, Guangdong): mi²
Min Bei (KCR): mî
Min Dong (BUC): mì
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): bî
(Teochew, Peng'im): mui⁵
Wu (Wiktionary): mi (T3); vi (T3)
Xiang (Wiktionary): uei²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wēi
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄟ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wei
  - Wade–Giles: wei¹
  - Yale: wēi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uei
  - Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; dated variant in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wéi
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wéi
  - Wade–Giles: wei²
  - Yale: wéi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wei
  - Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: mei⁴
  - Yale: mèih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: méi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯²¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mì
  - Hakka Romanization System: miˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: mi²
  - Sinological IPA: /mi¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: mi²
  - Sinological IPA: /mi¹¹/
Min Bei
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: mî
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi³³/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: mì
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi⁵³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bî
  - Tâi-lô: bî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bii
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bi²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bi²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bi²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi²³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: mui⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mûi
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mui⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: mi (T3); vi (T3)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi²³/, /v̥i²³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: uei²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ue̞i¹³/

Middle Chinese: /mʉi/

Rime
Character	微
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	微 (21)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	無非切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mʉi/
Pan Wuyun	/mʷɨi/
Shao Rongfen	/miuəi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/muj/
Li Rong	/miuəi/
Wang Li	/mĭwəi/
Bernard Karlgren	/mwe̯i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wéi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mei⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*məj/
(Zhengzhang): /*mɯl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	微
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wēi
Middle Chinese	‹ mjɨj ›
Old Chinese	/*məj/
English	small
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	微
Reading #	1/1
No.	12801
Phonetic component	微
Rime group	微
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	微
Old Chinese	/*mɯl/

Definitions

微

tiny; small; trifling
to decline; to deteriorate
humble; low-ranking
slight; gentle
slightly; gently
^† to not have
- 微管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  微管仲，吾其被发左衽矣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Wēi Guǎn Zhòng, wú qí pīfàzuǒrèn yǐ. [Pinyin]
  Without Guan Zhong, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappets of our coats buttoning on the left side.
micro- (SI unit prefix)
(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 微 (MC mʉi)
(～日) (telegraphy) the fifth day of a month

Compounds

Derived terms from 微

些微 (xiēwēi)
以微知著
低微 (dīwēi)
元微之
入微 (rùwēi)
力微任重
功微德薄 (gōngwēidébó)
卑微 (bēiwēi)
可微 (kěwēi)
名微德薄
太微
寒微 (hánwēi)
希微
幽微
式微 (shìwēi)
微不足道 (wēibùzúdào)
微中子 (wēizhōngzǐ)
微乎其微 (wēihūqíwēi)
微信 (Wēixìn)
微分 (wēifēn)
微博 (wēibó)
微卷
微型 (wēixíng)
微妙 (wēimiào)
微子
微小 (wēixiǎo)
微弱 (wēiruò)
微微 (wēiwēi)
微忱
微恙 (wēiyàng)
微息
微情
微文
微晶 (wēijīng)
微曦
微服 (wēifú)
微末
微波 (wēibō)
微渺
微生物 (wēishēngwù)
微眇
微笑 (wēixiào)
微米 (wēimǐ)
微粒 (wēilì)
微臣 (wēichén)
微茫 (wēimáng)
微薄 (wēibó)
微血管 (wēixuèguǎn)
微行 (wēixíng)
微言 (wēiyán)
微醺 (wēixūn)
微量 (wēiliàng)
微雕
微雕
忽微

慎微
才秀人微
拈花微笑
敬小慎微
本小利微 (běnxiǎolìwēi)
杜微慎防
梭微子
毚微
波微
浸微
浸微浸消
深微
火熹微
熹微 (xīwēi)
爝火微光
略微 (lüèwēi)
白玉微瑕
白玉微疵
白璧微瑕 (báibì-wēixiá)
睹微知著 (dǔwēizhīzhù)
知微知彰
稀微 (hi-bî) (Min Nan)
稍微 (shāowēi)
笑微微 (chhiò-bi-bi) (Min Nan)
精微 (jīngwēi)
紫微 (zǐwēi)
翠微
翠微山
衰微 (shuāiwēi)
通幽洞微
造微入妙
量小力微
霏微 (fēiwēi)
凌波微步
福生于微
人微權輕／人微权轻
人微言輕／人微言轻 (rénwēiyánqīng)
側微／侧微
兵少將微／兵少将微
兵微將寡／兵微将寡 (bīngwēijiàngguǎ)
具體而微／具体而微
刻畫入微／刻画入微
寒微簡陋／寒微简陋
寖微寖滅／寖微寖灭
幾微／几微
微分學／微分学
微塵／微尘 (wēichén)
微文深詆／微文深诋
微時／微时
微暈／微晕
微獨／微独
微積分／微积分 (wēijīfēn)
微細／微细 (wēixì)
微纖／微纤
微脈／微脉

微處理器／微处理器 (wēichǔlǐqì)
微處理機／微处理机 (wēichǔlǐjī)
微詞／微词 (wēicí)
微賤／微贱 (wēijiàn)
微軟／微软 (Wēiruǎn)
微辭／微辞
微電腦／微电脑 (wēidiànnǎo)
微風／微风 (wēifēng)
慎小謹微／慎小谨微
才微智淺／才微智浅
探賾索微／探赜索微
星際微塵／星际微尘
杜漸防微／杜渐防微
杜漸除微／杜渐除微
梨頰微渦／梨颊微涡
洞燭入微／洞烛入微
清謳微吟／清讴微吟
滄海微塵／沧海微尘
漸趨式微／渐趋式微
無微不至／无微不至 (wúwēibùzhì)
破顏微笑／破颜微笑
禍起隱微／祸起隐微
積微成著／积微成著
窮幽極微／穷幽极微
窮纖入微／穷纤入微
糧寡兵微／粮寡兵微
細微／细微 (xìwēi)
細微末節／细微末节 (xìwēimòjié)
縮影微捲／缩影微卷
縮微／缩微
纖微／纤微
興微繼絕／兴微继绝
蟲沙微類／虫沙微类
蠅頭微利／蝇头微利
見微知萌／见微知萌
見微知著／见微知著 (jiànwēizhīzhù)
視微知著／视微知著
言微旨遠／言微旨远
談言微中／谈言微中
謹小慎微／谨小慎微 (jǐnxiǎoshènwēi)
身輕言微／身轻言微 (shēnqīngyánwēi)
輕微／轻微 (qīngwēi)
辭微旨遠／辞微旨远
鉤隱抉微／钩隐抉微
闡微／阐微
防微慮遠／防微虑远
防微杜漸／防微杜渐 (fángwēidùjiàn)
隱微／隐微
音韻闡微／音韵阐微
顯微手術／显微手术 (xiǎnwēi shǒushù)
顯微書影／显微书影
顯微照相／显微照相
顯微鏡／显微镜 (xiǎnwēijìng)
風微浪穩／风微浪稳
體貼入微／体贴入微 (tǐtiērùwēi)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (微):

→ Japanese: 微(み) (mi); 微(び) (bi)
→ Korean: 미(微) (mi)
→ Vietnamese: vi (微)

Pronunciation 2

Min Nan (POJ): bui

Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bui
  - Tâi-lô: bui
  - Phofsit Daibuun: buy
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bui⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bui³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bui⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bui⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bui⁴⁴/

Definitions

微 (Min Nan)

(mouth, eyes, etc.) to close slightly
a little

Compounds

峇微

微目

沙微 (“sa-bui”) (Min Nan)

Japanese

Kanji

微

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

delicate

Readings

Go-on: み (mi)
Kan-on: び (bi, Jōyō)
Kun: かすか (kasuka, 微か); ちいさい (chīsai, 微さい); わずか (wazuka)
Nanori: ほほ (hoho)

Affix

微(び) • (bi)

tiny; small; minute

Affix

微(み) • (mi)

tiny; small; minute

Korean

Hanja

微 (eumhun 작을 미 (jageul mi))

Hanja form^? of 미 (“small, few, little, hidden”).

微 (eumhun 자질구레할 미 (jajilgurehal mi))

Hanja form^? of 미 (“minor, trivial, trifling”).

Vietnamese

Han character

微: Hán Nôm readings: vi

chữ Hán form of vi (“micro-”).

Zhuang

Noun

微

Sawndip form of feiz (“fire”)