草

草 U+8349, 草 ← 荈[U+8348] CJK Unified Ideographs 荊 →[U+834A] Stroke order Stroke order (Hong Kong) Stroke order (Taiwan)

草 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+6, 10 strokes in traditional Chinese and Korean, 9 strokes in simplified Chinese and Japanese, Cangjie input 廿日十 (TAJ), four-corner 44406, composition ⿱艹早)

• 愺, 騲(𮪤), 䓥

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1030, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30945
• Dae Jaweon: page 1489, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3203, character 4
• Unihan data for U+8349

trad. 草 simp. # 草 alternative forms

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *sʰuːʔ): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 早 (OC *ʔsuːʔ). Originally referred to 皂, and later borrowed for the “grass” sense, replacing 艸.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-tswa-n (“grass”); cognate with Tibetan རྩྭ (rtswa, “grass”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

Alternatively, it may be related to 芻 (OC *sʰro, “hay”), from Austroasiatic; compare Mon ချဲ (“grass; weeds; hay”) (Schuessler, 2007).

草

1. herbaceous plant; herb; weed; wort; grass; forb 草地上有一頭牛在吃草。 [MSC, trad.]草地上有一头牛在吃草。 [MSC, simp.]Cǎodì shàng yǒu yī tóu niú zài chī cǎo. [Pinyin]There is one cow eating grass on the lawn. 香草 ― xiāngcǎo ― fragrant herb 除草 ― chúcǎo ― to weed 草木樨 ― cǎomùxī ― sweet clover 草魚／草鱼 ― cǎoyú ― grass carp (a herbivorous fish)
2. Used in names of some woody plants. 莽草 ― mǎngcǎo ― Illicium henryi and Illicium lanceolatum 舞草 ― wǔcǎo ― Codariocalyx motorius 醉魚草／醉鱼草 ― zuìyúcǎo ― Buddleja lindleyana
3. straw 稻草 ― dàocǎo ― rice straw 草鞋 ― cǎoxié ― straw sandals
4. (Cantonese, slang) marijuana; cannabis; weed 㨃草 [Cantonese] ― deoi2 cou2 [Jyutping] ― to smoke weed
5. (dated) countryside; wilderness 草野 ― cǎoyě ― wilderness 落草為寇／落草为寇 ― luòcǎowéikòu ― to become a bandit in the countryside
6. common; ordinary 草民 ― cǎomín ― common people 草球 ― cǎoqiú ― Echinopsis oxygona 草金魚／草金鱼 ― cǎojīnyú ― common goldfish 草龜／草龟 ― cǎoguī ― Mauremys reevesii (the most common turtle in China) 草狗 ― cǎogǒu ― native breeds of dog 草雞／草鸡 ― cǎojī ― native breeds of chicken
7. (dialectal, chiefly of livestock or poultry) female (variant: 騲) 草馬／草马 ― cǎomǎ ― female horse 草狗 ― cǎogǒu ― female dog 草雞／草鸡 ― cǎojī ― hen
8. careless; rough; sloppy 草率 ― cǎolǜ ― hasty 草書／草书 ― cǎoshū ― cursive script
9. (calligraphy) short for 草書／草书 (cǎoshū, “cursive script (grass script)”) 狂草 ― kuángcǎo ― wild cursive script
10. draft; sketch 草擬／草拟 ― cǎonǐ ― to draft; to draw up (a plan)
11. (chemistry) oxalic

Others:

• Vietnamese: tháu (“scrawling”)

For pronunciation and definitions of 草 – see 皂 (“black; acorn; etc.”).(This character is a variant form of 皂).

草

1. (slang, euphemistic, Internet slang) alternative form of 肏 (“fuck”)

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 草 (kusa, “LOL”). See the Japanese entry for more information.

As an interjection, this term is easily confused with the native “fuck” sense above. To distinguish between the two senses, 中國語／中国语 (Zhōngguóyǔ, “Chinese”) and 日本語／日本语 (Rìběnyǔ, “Japanese”) are usually put in parentheses following the term to specify which sense is intended.

草

1. (neologism, Internet slang) LOL 草（中日雙語）／草（中日双语） ― cǎo (zhōngrì shuāngyǔ) ― fuck lmao (literally, “草 (in Chinese and Japanese)”)
2. (neologism, Internet slang) hilarious 這也太草了吧。／这也太草了吧。 ― Zhè yě tài cǎo le ba. ― Isn’t this a bit too hilarious?

• “草”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎[2], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)←さう (sau, historical)
• Kan-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)←さう (sau, historical)
• Kun: くさ (kusa, 草, Jōyō)
• Nanori: そ (so)、や (ya)、かや (kaya)、しげ (shige)

Kanji in this term 草 くさGrade: 1 kun’yomi Alternative spelling 艸 (uncommon)

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kusa. Found in the Man’yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[1] Possibly cognate with Korean 꽃 (kkot, “flower”).

The development of the fake, amateur senses is unclear, but probably from an earlier meaning green, referring to the color of the grass.

• (Tokyo) くさ [kùsáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[2][3]
• IPA(key): [kɯ̟̊sa̠]

草(くさ) • (kusa)

1. grass Synonym: (in reference to a lawn) 芝生 (shibafu) 草(くさ)を刈(か)るkusa o karuto cut grass
2. a weed
3. a herb Synonyms: ハーブ (hābu), (medicinal) 薬草 (yakusō), (cooking) 香草 (kōsō)
4. a scout, a spy (from the way one would hide in the grass to observe enemy troops)
5. (figurative, slang, rare) pubic hair
6. (hanafuda) (usually in hiragana) alternative name of the yaku 草(くさ)短(たん) (kusatan)

草(くさ) • (kusa-)

1. a fake, a mimic, not the real thing 草(くさ)蜉蝣(かげろう)kusakagerōa lacewing fly (literally, “fake or mimic dragonfly”, from the visual resemblance)
2. amateur, small-time 草(くさ)野(や)球(きゅう)、草(くさ)競(けい)馬(ば)kusayakyū, kusakeibaamateur or pick-up baseball, small-time horse-racing

For pronunciation and definitions of 草 – see the following entry. 【種くさ】4 [noun] an origin, cause (This term, 草, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) Kanji in this term 草 そうGrade: 1 on’yomi

/sau/ → /sɔː/ → /soː/

From Middle Chinese 草 (MC tshawX).

• (Tokyo) そー [sóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[3][2]
• IPA(key): [so̞ː]

草(そう) • (sō) ←さう (sau)?

1. grass
2. a draft, a rough copy
3. cursive, calligraphy in a running hand
4. something unofficial, an informal abbreviation or knock-off

• (draft): 草案(そうあん) (sōan)
• (cursive): 草書(そうしょ) (sōsho, a document), 草仮名(そうがな) (sōgana, phonetic man’yōgana characters written in cursive)

Kanji in this term 草 くさGrade: 1 kun’yomi

From the resemblance of multiple repetitions of w (w, “LOL”) to grass: wwwwwwwww.

Possibly influenced by the term くすくす (kusukusu), an adverb indicating stifled laughter. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

• (Tokyo) くさ [kùsáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[3][2]
• IPA(key): [kɯ̟̊sa̠]

草(くさ) • (kusa)

1. (Internet slang) LOL

草(くさ) • (kusa)

1. (Internet slang) “grass”, in reference to the expression w (w, “LOL”); LOLs

草(くさ) • (kusa)

1. ellipsis of 草(が)生える (kusa (ga) haeru, literally “grass grows”): (Internet slang) … it’s hilarious Synonyms: 草(が)生える (kusa (ga) haeru, literally “grass grows”), 笑える (waraeru, “(it is) laughable”) 鯖(さば)落(お)ちてて草(くさ)saba ochitete kusalol the server’s down 下手(へた)すぎて草(くさ)heta-sugite kusahilariously shitty 4日(よっか)しかないのは草(くさ)yokka shika nai no wa kusaonly 4 days left haha つべで紹介(しょうかい)されてて草(くさ)Tsube de shōkai saretete kusasomeone made a YouTube video on it lol(literally, “it got introduced on YouTube lol”)

• 大草原(だいそうげん) (daisōgen, literally “great fields of grass”)
• 草(くさ)生(は)える (kusa haeru, literally “grass grows”)
• 草(くさ)不可避(ふかひ) (kusa fukahi, literally “grass is unavoidable”)

• 大爆笑(だいばくしょう) (daibakushō)
• 笑(わら) (wara)

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

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [t͡ɕʰo̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [초]

草 (eumhun 풀 초 (pul cho))

1. hanja form? of 초 (“grass”)

草: Hán Nôm readings: thảo, tháu, xáo

1. chữ Hán form of thảo (“grass; herbs; draft”)
2. chữ Hán form of Thảo (“a female given name”) 阮氏芳草 ― Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo

• Nom Foundation