乾[干] gān
adjective
: dry; dried food
: clean
: in vain
: foster; adoptive
: to ignore
乾[干] qián
noun
: one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦, symbolizing heaven (sky)
: male principle
: ☰ first symbol in the I Ching: “the Creative”
干 gān
verb
: to concern; to interfere
: shield
: stem
幹 [干] gàn
verb
: tree trunk
: main part of something
: to manage; to work; to do
: capable
: cadre
: to kill (slang)
: to fuck (vulgar)
Kun Reading
乾 OR 干 | ほし hoshi
noun | noun prefix
: drying; dried
乾す OR 干す | ほす hosu
godan verb with su ending | transitive verb
: to air; to dry; to desiccate
: to drain (off)
: to drink up
: to deprive of a role, job, etc. (usu. in the passive)
干る | ひる hiru
godan verb with su ending | transitive verb
: to dry
乾く | かわく kawaku
godan verb with ku ending | intransitive verb
: to get dry
乾せる | かせる kaseru
ichidan verb
: to dry up; to scab; to slough
: to be poisoned (with lacquer)
: (Archaism) to waste away
幹 | みき miki OR から kara
ichidan verb
: (tree) trunk; (arrow) shaft; (tool) handle; backbone; base
On Reading
乾 | けん ken
noun
: qian (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: heaven, northwest)
幹 | かん kan
noun
: (tree) trunk; (arrow) shaft; (tool) handle; backbone; base
乾[干] gan1: dry, clean (adjective)
乾淨[干净] gan1jing4: clean; neat
乾[干]脆 gan1cui4: straightforward; clear-cut; blunt (e.g. statement); you might as well; simply
乾[干]杯 gan1bei1: to drink a toast; Cheers! (proposing a toast) Here’s to you! Bottoms up! lit. dry cup
[乾杯 | かんぱい kanbai: toast; drink (in celebration or in honor of something)
: drinking one’s glass dry
: (Interjection) cheers]
乾媽 [干妈] gan1 ma1: godmother
乾爹 [干爹] gan1 die1: godfather
乾女兒 [干女儿] gan1 nü3 er2: adopted daughter; goddaughter
乾兒子 [干儿子] gan1 er2 zi5: adopted son; godson
乾[干]燥 gan1zao4: to dry (of weather, paint, cement etc); desiccation; dull; uninteresting; arid
[乾燥 | かんそう kansou: dryness; aridity; insipidity; dehydration; desiccation]
乾燥感 | かんそうかん kansoukan: dry, parched, or dehydrated feeling
乾燥肌 | かんそうはだ kansou hada: dry skin
乾[干]旱 gan1han4: drought; arid; dry
餅乾 [饼干] bing3gan1: biscuit; cracker; cookie
[乾パン | かんパン kanpan: cracker; hard biscuit; hardtackOR
ビスケット bisuketto: cookie; biscuit]
包乾[干] bao1gan1: to have the full responsibility of a job; allocated task
吹乾[干] chui1gan1: to blow-dry
擦乾[干] ca1gan1: to wipe dry
晾乾[干] liang4gan1: to dry by the sun
葡萄乾 [葡萄干] pu2 tao5 gan1: raisin [乾葡萄 | ほしぶどう hoshibudou: raisin]
乾燥機 [干燥机] gan1zao4 ji1: drier
[乾燥機 | かんそうき: drying machine; dryer; desiccator]
衣類乾燥機 | いるいかんそうき irui kansouki: clothes dryer; clothes drier
乾[干]坤 qian2kun1: Heaven and earth; Yin and Yang; The Universe
[乾坤 | けんこん kenkon: heaven and earth; universe]
竺乾[干] zhu2qian2: Buddha (archaic); Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha)
乾[干]隆 qian2long2: Qianlong Emperor
干擾[扰] gan1rao3: to disturb; to interfere; perturbation; interference (physics)
干涉 gan1she4: to interfere; to meddle; interference
干預[预] gan1yu4: to meddle; to intervene; intervention
干休 gan1xiu1: to let matters rest
干係[系] gan1xi4: responsibility
若干 ruo4gan1: a certain number or amount; how many?; how much?
[若干 | そくばく sokubaku OR じゃっかん jakkan: some; few; a number of; a little (bit)
: somewhat; to a certain extent
: many; a lot]
何干 he2gan1: what business?
十干 shi2gan1: same as 天干; the 10 heavenly stems 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸 (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number like Roman I, II, III)
[じっかん jikkan: the 10 calendar signs]
天干 tian1’gan1: the 10 heavenly stems 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸, used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal numbers I, II etc
[てんかん tenkan: celestial stems (10 signs of the Chinese calendar)]
射干 she4gan1: blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis); leopard lily
幹[干]部 gan4bu4: cadre; official; officer; manager
[幹部 | かんぶ kanbu: management; (executive) staff; leaders; leadership; top brass; upper echelons]
幹甚麼 [干什么] gan4 she2nme: what are you doing?; what’s he up to?
幹活兒[干活儿] gan4huo2 r: to work; manual labor
幹線 [干线] gan4xian4: main line; trunk line
[幹線 | かんせん kansen: main line; trunk line]
新幹線 [新干线] xin1 gan4 xian4: Japanese high-speed train
[新幹線 | しんかんせん shinkansen: Shinkansen; bullet train]
幹勁 [干劲] gan4jin4: enthusiasm for doing something
能幹[干] neng2gan4: capable; competent
骨幹[干] gu3gan4: diaphysis (long segment of a bone); fig. backbone
[骨幹 | こっかん kokkan: skeleton; structure; build]
才幹[干] cai2gan4: ability; competence
[才幹 | さいかん saikan: ability]
樹幹 [树干] shu4gan4: tree trunk
[樹幹 | じゅかん shukan: trunk; shaft]
苦幹[干] ku3gan4: to work hard
Japanese common word | expression | yojijukugo 四字熟語 | idiom
干乾し | ひぼし hiboshi: starving
乾坤一擲 |けんこんいってき kenkon itteki
: (yoji) stake all (on something); play for all or nothing; throwing all into a task
喉が乾く | のどがかわく nodogakawaku
: to be thirsty
乾きの早い | かわきのはやい kawaki no hayai
: fast drying (clothes)
無味乾燥 | むみかんそう mumikansou
: (yoji) dull and uninteresting; cut-and-dried
君の瞳に乾杯 | きみのひとみにかんぱい kimi no hitomi ni kanpai
: Here’s looking at you, kid; Here’s cheers to your eyes
舌の根も乾かぬうち | したのねもかわかぬうち shita no nemo kawaka nuuchi
: in the same breath; hardly had the words been said
役を干される | やくをほされる yaku o hosa reru
: to be deprived of one’s role; to have one’s livelihood taken away
Chinese expression | chengyu 成語 | idiom | proverb
吃乾飯 [吃干饭] chi1 gan1 fan4
: (coll.) to be incompetent; useless; good-for-nothing
乾淨俐落 [干净俐落] gan1 jing4 li4 luo4: clean and efficient; neat and tidy
OR
乾淨利落 [干净利落] gan1 jing4 li4 luo5: squeaky clean; neat and tidy; efficient
一乾二淨 [一干二净] yi1 gan1 er4 jing4
: thoroughly; completely; one and all; very clean
乳臭未乾 [乳臭未干] ru3 xiu4 wei4 gan1
: smell of mother’s milk not yet dried; immature and inexperienced; still wet behind the ears
洗手不幹 [洗手不干] xi3 shou3 bu4 gan4
: to totally stop doing something; to reform one’s ways
精明強幹 [精明强干] jing1 ming2 qiang2 gan4: intelligent and capable
OR
精明能幹 [精明能干] jing1 ming2 neng2 gan4: able and efficient
烈火乾柴 [烈火干柴] lie4 huo3 gan1 chai2
: lit. intense fire to dry wood; inferno in a woodpile; fig. consuming passion between lovers
口乾舌燥 [口干舌燥] kou3 gan1 she2 zao4
: lit. dry mouth and tongue; to talk too much
有何貴幹 [有何贵干] you3 he2 gui4 gan4
: What (noble errand) brings you here?; May I help you?; What can I do for you?
唾面自乾 [唾面自干] tuo4 mian4 zi4 gan1
: to be spat on in the face and let it dry by itself, not wiping it off; to turn the other cheek; to drain the cup of humiliation
朝乾夕惕 zhao1 qian2 xi1 ti4
: cautious and diligent all day long
埋頭苦幹 [埋头苦干] mai2 tou2 ku3 gan4
: to bury oneself in work; to be engrossed in work; to make an all-out effort; up to the neck in work
旋乾轉坤 [旋乾转坤] xuan2 qian2 zhuan3 kun1
: lit. overturning heaven and earth; earth-shattering; a radical change
手腳不乾淨 [手脚不干净] shou3 jiao3 bu4 gan1 jing4
: thieving; light-fingered; prone to stealing
不乾不淨,吃了沒病 [不干不净,吃了没病] bu4 gan1 bu4 jing4 , chi1 le5 mei2 bing4
: a little dirt never killed anybody (proverb); a couple of germs won’t do you any harm
化干戈為玉帛 [化干戈为玉帛] hua4 gan1 ge1 wei2 yu4 bo2
: lit. to exchange weapons of war for gifts of jade and silk; fig. to turn hostility into friendship
乾
形声 Pictophonetic.
乙 (yi3: second) suggests the meaning while
倝 (gan4: sunrise) provides the sound.
幹
形声 Pictophonetic.
倝 (gan4: sunrise) suggests the meaning while
干 (gan1 | gan4: oppose; dried) provides the sound.
簡體 Simplified.
干. Created as unique simplification #72 (乾幹 » 干) via homophonic substitution.
Historical variant:
乹[干] gan1
Examples:
つまのからせきがきになります tsuma no karaseki ga ki ni narimasu
妻の乾咳が気になります。
I’m concerned about my wife’s hacking cough.
明天有許多要幹的事情。
ming2tian1 you3 xu3duo1 yao1 gan1 de shi4qing2
I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.
Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary