기우

Korean

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [kiu]
• Phonetic hangul: [기우]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	giu
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	giu
McCune–Reischauer?	kiu
Yale Romanization?	kiwu

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 杞憂, from 杞 (“ancient kingdom of Qi”) + 憂 (“worry, concern”): "the worry of the man from Qi". From a story in the Chinese classic Liezi, early first millennium, "Heaven's Gifts", adapted from the translation by A. C. Graham:

杞國有人，憂天地崩墜，身亡所寄，廢寢食者。又有憂彼之所憂者，因往曉之，曰：「天，積氣耳，亡處亡氣。若屈伸呼吸，終日在天中行止，奈何憂崩墜乎？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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杞国有人，忧天地崩坠，身亡所寄，废寝食者。又有忧彼之所忧者，因往晓之，曰：「天，积气耳，亡处亡气。若屈伸呼吸，终日在天中行止，奈何忧崩坠乎？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Liezi, 1^st – 5^th century CE

Qǐ guó yǒu rén, yōu tiāndì bēngzhuì, shēn wáng suǒ jì, fèi qǐnshí zhě. Yòu yǒu yōu bǐ zhī suǒ yōu zhě, yīn wǎng xiǎo zhī, yuē: “Tiān, jīqì ěr, wáng chù wáng qì. Ruò qūshēn hūxī, zhōngrì zài tiān zhōng xíngzhǐ, nàihé yōu bēngzhuì hū?” [Pinyin]

There was a man of Qi country who was so worried that heaven and earth might fall down, and his body would have nowhere to lodge, that he forgot to eat and sleep. There was another man who was worried that he should be so worried about it, and therefore went to enlighten him, saying, "Heaven is nothing but the accumulated air; there is no place where there is not air. You walk and stand all day inside heaven, stretching and bending, breathing in and breathing out; why should you worry about it falling down?"

Noun

기우 • (giu) (hanja 杞憂)

1. groundless worry; unfounded worry

   그는 모든 타인이 자신을 미워한다는 기우에 시달린다.

   Geu-neun modeun tain-i jasin-eul miwohandaneun giu-e sidallinda.

   He suffers from unfounded worries that all other people hate him.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 祈雨, from 祈 (“to pray”) + 雨 (“rain”).

Noun

기우 • (giu) (hanja 祈雨)

1. praying for rain

Derived terms

• 기우제(祈雨祭) (giuje)

 

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 奇遇, from 奇 (“strange”) + 遇 (“encounter”).

Noun

기우 • (giu) (hanja 奇遇)

1. (literary) unexpected encounter; fortuitous meeting (between people)