# 巌

| 巌 | U+5DCC, &#24012; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5DCC |
| ← 巋 [U+5DCB] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 巍 → [U+5DCD] |

## Translingual

| Japanese | 巌/岩 |
| Simplified | 岩 |
| Traditional | 巖/岩 |

### Han character

巌 (Kangxi radical 46, 山+17, 20 strokes, cangjie input 山火一大 (UFMK), composition ⿱山厳)

### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 322, character 29
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8624
* Dae Jaweon: page 622, character 42
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 1, page 806, character 16
* Unihan data for U+5DCC

## Chinese

* For pronunciation and definitions of 巌 – see 岩 (“cliff; rock; stone; -ite; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 巖, which is in turn a variant form of 岩).

## Japanese

| Shinjitai | 巌 |
| Kyūjitai | 巖 |

### Kanji

(Jinmeiyō kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 巖)

#### Readings

* Go-on: げん (gen)
* Kan-on: がん (gan)
* Kun: けわしい (kewashii, 巌しい)、いわお (iwao, 巌)、いわ (iwa, 巌)
* Nanori: よし (yoshi)

### Etymology 1

* Kanji in this term
* 巌
* いわお Jinmeiyō
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 巖 (kyūjitai)
/ipa po/ → /ifafo/ → /iwawo/ → /iwao/
From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū finished some time after 759 CE.
Originally a compound of 岩 (ipa → iwa, “boulder; crag”) +‎ 秀 (po → ho, “something tall and prominent”, cognate with 穂 (ho, “ear of grain”), from the sense of something prominent sticking upwards).
The character is Japanese shinjitai, simplified from 巖.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) いわお [ìwáó] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [iβ̞a̠o̞]

#### Noun

巌(いわお) • (iwao)
* a tall and large rock, crag, or boulder

#### Proper noun

巌(いわお) • (Iwao)
* a male given name

### Etymology 2

* Kanji in this term
* 巌
* いわ Jinmeiyō
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 巖 (kyūjitai)
/ipa/ → /ifa/ → /iwa/
From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū finished some time after 759 CE.
For pronunciation and definitions of 巌 – see the following entry. :
| 【岩いわ】2 | [noun] rock Alternative spelling 磐 |
(This term, 巌, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) :

### Etymology 3

* Kanji in this term
* 巌
* がん Jinmeiyō
* on'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 巖 (kyūjitai)
From Middle Chinese 巖 (MC ngaem).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ɡã̠ɴ]

#### Affix

巌(がん) • (gan)
* (only found in compounds) a rock, crag, or boulder

##### Derived terms

* 巌(がん)下(か) (ganka): the underneath of a large rock, crag, or boulder
* 巌(がん)巌(がん) (gangan): rocky, craggy; sophisticated, lofty, high-minded, noble
* 巌(がん)窟(くつ) (gankutsu): a cave in a crag
* 巌(がん)桂(けい) (gankei): alternative name for 木犀 (mokusei, “sweet osmanthus, a kind of flowering bush”)
* 巌(がん)穴(けつ) (ganketsu) a hollow or small cave in a crag
* 巌(がん)松(しょう) (ganshō): a pine tree growing out of a crag or boulder
* 巌(がん)石(せき) (ganseki): a cluster of crags or boulders
* 巌(がん)泉(せん) (gansen): a spring (water source) in or between crags or boulders
* 巌(がん)阻(そ) (ganso): a steep road in the mountains or crags
* 巌(がん)頭(とう) (gantō): the top of a crag or boulder
* 巌(がん)洞(どう) (gandō): a cave in a crag
* 巌(がん)扉(ぴ) (ganpi): the door or opening to a craggy area; the door or opening to a cave in a crag
* 巌(がん)廊(ろう) (ganrō): literally “lofty halls”, the rooms to either side in a palace; by extension, the imperial court

### References

* ↑ c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 19, poem 4231:, text here
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* ↑ c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 15, poem 3590:, text here