Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

或 (radical 62 戈+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 戈口一 (IRM), four-corner 5310₀, composition ⿹戈⿱口一)

Usage notes

While 或 is both a traditional and simplified character (it was not simplified), it is simplified as a component of the character 國 → 国.

Derived characters

• 域, 掝, 淢, 惐, 琙, 棫, 稢, 聝, 戫, 蜮, 緎, 馘, 罭, 窢, 惑, 閾 (阈), 國 (国), 魊, 彧, 𢨋

References

• KangXi: page 412, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 11563
• Dae Jaweon: page 754, character 17
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1402, character 8
• Unihan data for U+6216

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 或
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 戈 + 口 + 一, “territory”.

Borrowed for abstract meanings. The derivative 國 (OC *kʷɯːɡ) and 域 (OC *ɢʷrɯɡ) refer to the original word.

Note that 咸 is not derived from 或, and that the characters 口 and 一 are stacked in the opposite order in these characters. Both are ultimately from 戈 (“halberd, spear”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

或

1. or, either ... or

   中國或日本 / 中国或日本  ―  Zhōngguó huò Rìběn  ―  China or Japan

   或多或少  ―  huòduōhuòshào  ―  more or less, some amount

   • 可以說兩種或兩種以上的語言 [MSC, trad.]
     可以说两种或两种以上的语言 [MSC, simp.]

     kěyǐ shuō liǎng zhǒng huò liǎng zhǒng yǐshàng de yǔyán [Pinyin]

     able to speak two or more languages

2. perhaps, maybe
   • 代表團已出發，明天上午或可到達。 [MSC, trad.]
     代表团已出发，明天上午或可到达。 [MSC, simp.]

     Dàibiǎotuán yǐ chūfā, míngtiān shàngwǔ huò kě dàodá. [Pinyin]

     The delegation has set out, and will probably arrive tomorrow morning.

3. occasionally, sometimes
4. ^†someone, some people, something
   • 齊人伐燕，勝之。宣王問曰：「或謂寡人勿取，或謂寡人取之」。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     齐人伐燕，胜之。宣王问曰：“或谓寡人勿取，或谓寡人取之”。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Qí rén fá yàn, shèng zhī. Xuān wáng wèn yuē: "huò wèi guǎrén wù qǔ, huò wèi guǎrén qǔ zhī". [Pinyin]

     Qi attacked Yan, conquering it. King Xuan said: "Some people tell me not to take it [Yan] for myself; some tell me to take it".

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

或

1. ^†Original form of 域 (yù, “range, territory”).
2. ^†Original form of 國／国 (guó, “country”).

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

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Readings

• Goon: わく (waku)
• Kan’on: こく (koku)
• Kun: ある (aru), あるいは (arui wa)

Korean

Hanja

或 • ‎(hok) (hangeul 혹, revised hok, McCune-Reischauer hok, Yale hok)

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Vietnamese

Han character

或 (hoặc, hoắc)

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