茫
wide, extensive
Readings
On'yomi
- ボウ
Kun'yomi
- とお.い
Meaning
茫 centers on vast, unclear expanses: something wide, extensive, and often hazy or hard to grasp fully. The given meanings of 'wide' and 'extensive' fit this sense of a boundless, indistinct space.
Most common words using 茫
- 茫然ぼうぜん
vague
- 往事渺茫おうじびょうぼう
memories of the past events (being, becoming) far and distant
- 往事茫々おうじぼうぼう
memories of the past events (being, becoming) far and distant
- 渺茫びょうぼう
vast; boundless
- 瀰茫びぼう
endless river; boundless water
- 茫ぼう
extensive; open; vast
- 茫々ぼうぼう
vast (ocean, desert, etc.); boundless; extensive
- 茫洋ぼうよう
vast; limitless; boundless
- 茫漠ぼうばく
vast; boundless
- 茫然自失ぼうぜんじしつ
stupor; stupefaction; trance; (being) dumbfounded
- 蒼茫そうぼう
vast and blue (e.g. ocean)
Study
Etymology
茫 combines 艹 (grass) with 汒, which itself is 氵 (water) and 亡. The character likely expresses the idea of a vast, watery grassland or an indistinct expanse, with 亡 possibly contributing a sense of vagueness or disappearance.
Meaning mnemonic
Grass 艹 growing over a wide, watery 氵 expanse that seems to vanish 亡 into the distance: 茫 is a vast, extensive, and hazy scene.
Reading mnemonic
For ボウ, picture a bow (as in bow and arrow) stretching across the wide, hazy grassland: bow -> ボウ, and the bow's arc spans the extensive view.