乙

乙 U+4E59, 乙 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E59 ← 乘 [U+4E58] CJK Unified Ideographs 乚 → [U+4E5A]

⼄ U+2F04, ⼄ KANGXI RADICAL SECOND ← ⼃ [U+2F03] Kangxi Radicals ⼅ → [U+2F05]

Stroke order

Stroke order

乙 (Kangxi radical 5, 乙+0, 1 stroke, cangjie input 弓山 (NU), four-corner 1771₀)

1. Kangxi radical #5, ⼄.

• Appendix:Chinese radical/乙
• 亿, 忆, 㲸, 肊, 䎲, 釔(钇), 鳦, 氹, 艺, 朰, 戹, 穵

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 83, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 161
• Dae Jaweon: page 167, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 47, character 4
• Unihan data for U+4E59

Pictogram (象形). Origin obscure.

• Shuowen interprets it as a plant struggling to sprout.
• Ancient texts associate the shape with a fish's intestine (Erya) or gill bone (Liji).
• Some modern scholars suggest it represents a water flow.

The character should not be confused with 𠃉 > 鳦.

simp. and trad.		乙

乙

1. The second of the ten heavenly stems (天干 (tiāngān))
2. second; 2; B; II; beta (used for unnamed people or objects, to enumerate headings in a list, for grades, etc.)

   路人甲和路人乙  ―  lùrén jiǎ hé lùrén yǐ  ―  passerby A and passerby B

   他法語成績得了乙。 [MSC, trad.]
   他法语成绩得了乙。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā fǎyǔ chéngjì dé le yǐ. [Pinyin]

   He got a B in French.

   乙肝  ―  yǐgān  ―  hepatitis B

3. (organic chemistry) eth-; ethyl

   乙烷  ―  yǐwán  ―  ethane

4. (literary, formal) one

   （公文）……加乙份。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   (gōngwén)...... Jiā yǐ fèn. [Pinyin]

   (In official letters) …added one copy.

   於本店消費滿五百元，即可獲贈優惠券乙張。 [MSC, trad.]
   于本店消费满五百元，即可获赠优惠券乙张。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yú běn diàn xiāofèi mǎn wǔbǎi yuán, jí kě huò zèng yōuhuìquàn yǐ zhāng. [Pinyin]

   Customers spending more than 500 dollars may obtain a coupon.

5. a surname
6. (Cantonese) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}. (Classifier: 隻／只 c)
   • 2023, 5m30s from the start, in 笑满岭南七十载：专访第三届广东文艺终身成就奖获得者黄俊英‎^[2]:

     噉我52年入去珠江粵劇團嘅時候，一隻乙噉㗎咋喎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     噉我52年入去珠江粤剧团嘅时候，一只乙噉㗎咋㖞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     gam² ngo⁵ ng⁵ ji⁶ nin⁴ jap⁶ heoi³ zyu¹ gong¹ jyut⁶ kek⁶ tyun⁴ ge³ si⁴ hau⁶, jat¹ zek³ jyut³ gam² gaa³ zaa³ wo³. [Jyutping]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• → Zhuang: iet

simp. and trad.		乙

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 乙(おつ) (otsu).

乙

1. (ACG, sometimes sarcastic) thank you for the hard work in (doing something)

   自演乙  ―  zìyǎn yǐ  ―  (sarcastically) thank you for your hard work in staging this "drama"

simp. and trad.		乙

乙

1. (music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note ti (7).

   Synonym: 𢒼 (yǐ) (Cantonese opera)

2. (music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note low ti (7̣).

   Synonym: 一 (Kunqu)

From 笏.

乙

1. (Cantonese) only used in 山雞乙／山鸡乙 (a place in Hong Kong)

(Jōyō kanji)

• Go-on: おつ (otsu, Jōyō)、おち (ochi)
• Kan-on: いつ (itsu)
• Kun: きのと (kinoto, 乙)、おと (oto, 乙)、かなでる (kanaderu, 乙でる)、めり (meri)

Kanji in this term
乙
おつ Grade: S
goon

Originally from Middle Chinese 乙 (MC 'it), arising from the proper noun sense. Appears in texts from at least 833 CE.^[1]

• (Tokyo) おつ [óꜜtsù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡sɨ]

乙(おつ) • (Otsu) 

1. the second of the ten Celestial Stems

   Hypernyms: 天干 (tenkan), 十干 (jikkan)

   Coordinate terms: 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸

乙(おつ) • (otsu) 

1. something which is second; B

   Coordinate terms: 甲(こう) (kō, “first; A”); 丙(へい) (hei, “third; C”); 丁(てい) (tei, “fourth; D”)

   1. the second item of any ordered list
   2. (music) one tone lower than the note indicated by 甲(こう) (kō)
   3. (by extension from the musical sense) a lower, sonorous and moving sound or tone
   4. (noh theater) in noh musical accompaniment, a specific kind of muffled drum beat played by striking the head of the taiko drum and keeping the mallet pressed against the head
2. (Kansai dialect, slang) a stupid person, someone who is slow on the uptake
3. (rare, possibly archaic) the state or circumstances of a thing
4. (rare, possibly archaic) dressing up in an odd fashion

Kanji in this term
乙
おつ Grade: S
goon

By extension from the moving tone noun sense. Appears in texts from the late Edo period, in the early 1800s.^[1]

• (Tokyo) おつ [òtsú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡sɨ]

乙(おつ) • (otsu) -na (adnominal 乙(おつ)な (otsu na), adverbial 乙(おつ)に (otsu ni))

1. out of the ordinary, strange or unusual in an interesting or stylish way
2. strange, odd, weird

ja:東海道中膝栗毛 (Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, “Footing It along the Tokaido Road”, or “Shank's Mare”), serial published 1802-1814:

1. • ヲヤ弥(や)次(じ)さん、おつな手(て)つきをしておめへ何(なに)をする

     Oya Yaji-san, otsu na tetsuki o shite omē nani o suru

     Oy, Yaji, what do you think you're doing with your weird way of using your hands?

Kanji in this term
乙
おつ Grade: S (ateji)
goon

Alternative spelling
o2

Derived as aggressive clipping of お疲れ様です (otsukaresama desu, used as a kind of greeting at work, literally “that's honorable exhaustion (from hard work)”). The use of 乙 for the spelling is an example of phonetic ateji (当(あ)て字(じ)).

• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡sɨ]

乙(おつ) • (otsu) 

1. (Internet slang) clipping of お疲れ様です (otsukaresama desu)

   自演(じえん)乙(おつ)

   Jien'otsu

   I appreciate your acting (a satire of someone sock puppeting to praise himself)

• うp乙(おつ) (upotsu), うぽつ (upotsu)

Kanji in this term
乙
きのと Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 木 (Ki, “Wood”, one of the Five Elements) +‎ の (no, attributive marker) +‎ 弟 (oto, “younger brother”).

• (Tokyo) きのと [kìnóꜜtò] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [kʲino̞to̞]

乙(きのと) • (Kinoto) 

1. the second of the ten heavenly stems

   Hypernyms: 天干 (tenkan), 十干 (jikkan)

   Coordinate terms: 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸

Kanji in this term
乙
おと Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
弟

Cognate with the initial oto- in 劣る (otoru, “to be less than; to be younger than”), 落とす (otosu, “to drop something”).^[3][1] Also the first element in 弟 (otōto, “younger brother”).

First attested in the Kojiki of 712.^[4]

This is distinct from the initial oto- in 乙女(おとめ) (otome), which can instead be traced to an earlier woto- root, cognate with 復(を)つ (wotu).

• IPA^(key): [o̞to̞]

乙(おと) • (oto) 

1. [from 712] (archaic) a younger sibling

   Antonym: (older sibling, archaic) 兄 (e)

   Hyponyms: 弟 (otōto, “younger brother”), 妹 (imōto, “younger sister”)

2. [from late 1500s] (archaic) the youngest sibling

   Synonym: 乙子 (otogo)

3. [from late 1500s] (archaic) clipping of 乙娘 (oto musume, “young woman”)
4. [from late 1500s] (archaic, Noh theater) clipping of 乙御前 (oto goze, “a stock character in 狂言 (kyōgen) comic interludes, played as a plump and clumsy but earnest young woman”)

   Synonyms: おたふく (otafuku), おかめ (okame)

乙(おと) • (oto-) 

1. applied to a noun denoting a person, or to a person's name:
   1. next, younger, youngest
   2. beautiful, beloved, cute, dear

• “^△乙”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[3] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

乙 (eumhun 새 을 (sae eul))

1. bird

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [4]

乙 (-ol)

1. idu form^? of ᄋᆞᆯ (accusative case marker)
   • 1395, 高士褧 (Go Sa-gyeong), 金祗 (Kim Ji), 大明律直解 (Daemyeongnyul Jikhae) [Correct Translation of the Great Ming Code]:

     本國乙背叛

     PWON.KWUK-ul POY.PAN

     Betray his native country

From a Late Middle Chinese pronunciation of 乙 (MC 'it), which lenited coda /-t/ to /-r/.^[1]

乙 (*-r)

1. A consonantal phonogram denoting coda consonant *-r

Generally believed to have been pronounced as *-r, based both on internal evidence and the Chinese etymon. Old Korean 尸 (*-l) and 乙 (*-r) both merged unconditionally into *-l in Middle Korean, but the two phonograms were consistently distinguished in Old Korean until the late thirteenth century. Because Old Korean reconstructions are conventionally romanized using their Middle Korean reflex, the phonologically erroneous reconstruction *-l is often used as a shorthand.

• 肹 (*-(u)r, *-hur)

乙 (*-(u)r)

1. Accusative case marker
   • 1120, King Yejong of Goryeo, “悼二將歌 (Doijang-ga)”, in 平山申氏系譜 (Pyeongsan Sin-ssi Gyebo) [Genealogy of the Pyeongsan Sin descent group]:

     主乙完乎白乎心聞

     *NIRIM-ur WOPOL-wo-SOLP-wo(n) MOSOm-on

     as for the heart that admired his lord

In Middle and Modern Korean, the allomorph taken by the accusative marker after a vowel may be 를 (-reul) instead of ㄹ (-l), especially in formal speech. This is the result of reduplication of the particle and is unlikely to have been present in Old Korean, although the phonologically opaque nature of the orthography makes it difficult to tell for sure.

In "Middle Old Korean", the late first-millennium stage of Korean represented by about a dozen mostly eighth-century poems, the accusative particle was consistently written with the phonogram 肹. 乙 has become dominant by the twelve poems of the tenth-century monk Gyunyeo, however, and 肹 is virtually not attested at all by the second millennium. There seems to be no semantic difference involved. Whether this represents a phonetic shift or simply a change in orthographic practice is unknown, although 肹 and 乙 had differing Middle Chinese initials.^[2][3]

• Middle Korean: ᄋᆞᆯ/을 (-(o/u)l, accusative marker)
  • Korean: -을 (-eul, accusative case marker)

乙: Hán Việt readings: ất^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}
乙: Nôm readings: ắt^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}, át^{[3][4][5][6][7]}, hắt^[1][2][3][4], ít^[1][2], ngắt^[1][2], ắc^[3][4], út^[1], ặc^[3], lớt^[3]

1. chữ Hán form of Ất (“second of the ten heavenly stems”)

   Hypernyms: 天干, 十干

   Coordinate terms: 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸

2. chữ Nôm form of ắt (“(literary) certainly, surely”)
3. chữ Nôm form of ít (“few, little”)
4. chữ Nôm form of ngắt (“very; highly; greatly”)
5. chữ Nôm form of út (“lastborn; youngest”)