下

Stroke order

Stroke order

下 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一卜 (MY), four-corner 1023₀, composition ⿱一卜)

• 𬽥, 吓, 圷, 𢗄, 𢩹, 𪵩, 𬻁, 𨑜, 𭠏, 𭩙, 𬾂, 𧘔, 𠀴, 虾, 𠖈, 𣑎, 𬇭, 𠁄, 𮧉, 𤲂, 𮏱, 𣗱, 𠁑, 𥰊, 𣍋, 𡬈, 𬕹
• 𠀨, 𠁚, 乤, 𠮴, 忑, 𠀿, 颪, 𫇥, 𭆼, 芐, 𪱱, 𣲉, 𥫫, 𠀳, 𫢵, 𰂖, 雫, 梺, 𭡍, 𠁎, 疜, 閇
• 𰉌, 垰, 峠, 挊, 桛, 裃, 𧧎, 鞐

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 76, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14
• Dae Jaweon: page 147, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 7, character 1
• Unihan data for U+4E0B

Historical forms of the character 下
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script   j00145   j00146   j00147   j00148   j00149   j00150   j00151   j00152   j00153   j00154   j00155   j00156   j00157   j00158   j00159   j00160   j00161   j00162 Bronze inscriptions   b00153   b00154   b00155   b00156   b00157   b00158   b00159   b00160   b00161   b00162 Small seal script   s00016 Transcribed ancient scripts   L34992   L34993   L34994   L34995   L34996   L34997   L34998   L34999   L35000   L35001   L17177   L17178   L17179   L17180   L17181   L17182   L17183
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

In oracle bone script, it is an ideogram (指事) that shows the concept of "down" by showing one line below another (contrast 上). This form evolved into 下 in later scripts, the character used today.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(k/g)la-k/j/t (“to fall”) (STEDT):

• inside Sinitic, cognate with 落 (OC *ɡ·raːɡ, “to fall, to drop”), 露 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs, “dew”), 陊 (OC *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ, “to collapse”) and 阤 (OC *l'alʔ, *hljalʔ, “hillside, slope”);
• outside Sinitic, cognate with Mizo tla ~ tlâk (“to fall”), thla ~ thlâk (“to drop”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall”) and ချ (hkya., “to drop”).

Schuessler (2007) instead proposed an Austroasiatic origin by comparing 下 (OC *ɡraːʔ, “to descend, down, below”) to Khmer [script needed] (gra'ka, “be low, debased”); additionally, he suggested that Sino-Tibetan influence had possibly caused the weakening of foreign final *-k to OC final *-ʔ. He derives the departing tone (去聲) pronunciation via two derivations:

• 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to be put down”) is an exopassive derivation (ibid.);
• 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to descend, to fall”) is a later, general departing tone derivative (ibid.).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some! Particularly: “Taishanese”

下

1. (lower; inferior; located below)

   Antonym: 上

   1. low position

      下層／下层  ―  xiàcéng  ―  lower level

   2. lower part of; under

      樹下／树下  ―  shùxià  ―  under the tree

      樓下／楼下  ―  lóuxià  ―  downstairs

      1. under the influence of; with

         在這些條件下／在这些条件下  ―  zài zhèxiē tiáojiàn xià  ―  under these conditions

         在朋友的幫助下／在朋友的帮助下  ―  zài péngyǒu de bāngzhù xià  ―  with help from friends

         在藥師指導下／在药师指导下  ―  zài yàoshī zhǐdǎo xià  ―  under the instruction of a pharmacist

   3. later; next

      下個世紀／下个世纪  ―  xià ge shìjì  ―  the next century

      下卷  ―  xiàjuǎn  ―  Volume II

   4. ^† inferior, poor

      下人  ―  xiàrén  ―  servant

      下品  ―  xiàpǐn  ―  inferior products

   5. (Eastern Min, Southern Min, Xiang) low (quantity or absolute position)

      alt. forms: 低 (Min Nan)

2. (intransitive) (to go to a lower place)

   Antonym: 上

   1. to go down; to descend (as complement) downwards; down

      你快下來。／你快下来。  ―  Nǐ kuài xià lái.  ―  Come down here.

      下海  ―  xiàhǎi  ―  to go to sea

      下樓／下楼  ―  xiàlóu  ―  to go downstairs

      下山  ―  xiàshān  ―  to go down the mountain

      走下  ―  zǒuxià  ―  to walk down

      落下  ―  luòxià  ―  to fall down

      跳下深淵／跳下深渊  ―  tiàoxià shēnyuān  ―  to jump down to an abyss

      1. (as complement) completely, thoroughly

         拿下  ―  náxià  ―  to capture; to arrest

         打下基礎／打下基础  ―  dǎxià jīchǔ  ―  to lay the foundation

   2. to get out of; to leave; to alight; to get off

      下船  ―  xiàchuán  ―  to disembark from a boat

      下床  ―  xiàchuáng  ―  to get out of bed

      1. to finish, to complete

         下班  ―  xiàbān  ―  to get off work

         下課／下课  ―  xiàkè  ―  to finish class

   3. ^† to go to somewhere considered poor or inferior

      下鄉／下乡  ―  xiàxiāng  ―  to go to the countryside

      下館子／下馆子  ―  xiàguǎnzǐ  ―  to go to the restaurant

      下野  ―  xiàyě  ―  to be forced to step down

   4. (colloquial) Short for 下線 (“to log out”).
3. (transitive) (to move something to a lower place)
   1. (with limited objects, often figuratively) to put something down

      下筆／下笔  ―  xiàbǐ  ―  to start writing (lit., "to put the inkbrush down")

      下腳／下脚  ―  xiàjiǎo  ―  to have a small place to stand in (lit., "to put the feet down")

      下藥／下药  ―  xiàyào  ―  to drug someone (lit., "to put the drug down")

      下榻  ―  xiàtà  ―  to stay the night (lit., "to put the bed down")

      1. to put food into boiling water

         下麵條／下面条  ―  xià miàntiáo  ―  to put noodles into boiling water

         下餃子／下饺子  ―  xià jiǎozǐ  ―  to put dumplings into boiling water

      2. to rain or snow

         下雪  ―  xiàxuě  ―  to snow

         下雨  ―  xiàyǔ  ―  to rain

      3. to give birth (as an animal)

         下豬仔／下猪仔  ―  xià zhūzaǐ  ―  to have piglets

         下蛋  ―  xiàdàn  ―  to lay eggs

      4. (Taishanese) to put in; to add (a condiment, etc.)
      5. (colloquial) Short for 下載 (“to download”).

         先去下個軟件。／先去下个软件。  ―  Xiān qù xià ge ruǎnjiàn.  ―  Download the software first.

   2. to give or issue something to an inferior person

      下令  ―  xiàlìng  ―  to issue an order

      1. to send an invitation

         下戰書／下战书  ―  xià zhànshū  ―  to send a letter of challenge

   3. ^† to conquer

      連下三城／连下三城  ―  lián xià sān chéng  ―  to achieve three goals successively (lit. "to conquer three forts successively")

4. (a short time)
   1. (historical, obsolete) Synonym of 點／点 (diǎn): an ancient unit of time, equal to 24 minutes
   2. (colloquial) (as complement) Short for 一下.

      alt. forms: 吓 (Cantonese)

      1. for a short time; for one moment

         等下  ―  děng xià  ―  wait a moment

      2. give something a go

         看下  ―  kàn xià  ―  take a look

         睇下 [Cantonese]  ―  tai² haa⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  take a look

         聞下／闻下 [Cantonese]  ―  man⁴ haa⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  try smelling it

   3. Classifier for the number of occurrences: time

      敲三下門。／敲三下门。  ―  Qiāo sān xià mén.  ―  Knock at the door three times.

• 落 (luò)