Definitions
blunt; tough; chewy
one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[bā guà], symbolizing mountain; ☶; ancient Chinese compass point: 45° (northeast)
Etymology
Depicts a person looking backwards. Based on the original meaning "look backwards". The modern meaning is a phonetic loan.
About
The character 艮 originated as an ideograph showing an eye above a person turning around, depicting the act of glaring or looking back. It later became detached from this visual origin and was adopted as one of the Eight Trigrams in traditional divination, where it symbolizes a mountain and represents stillness, rest, or stopping. Beyond its philosophical and divinatory use, 艮 appears in some regional dialects as an adjective for food that is tough or chewy, or for a person who is exceptionally blunt or straightforward.
Etymology Hide
