KANJI: KO furu (old)

ASCII Art Representation:

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Character Etymology:

Older forms of this character reveal this to be a heavily stylized pictograph of a skull-like mask or an actual skull. A skull-like mask was worn at festivals honoring ancestor-gods, and since the ancestor-gods were people of old, the mask itself came to symbolize antiquity and hence the meaning old.

A Listing of All On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi Readings:

on-yomi: KO
kun-yomi: furu(i) furu- -furu(su)

Nanori Readings:

Nanori: fuyu

English Definitions:

1. KO: old.
2. furu(i): old, aged, ancient, antiquated; stale, threadbare; outmoded, obsolete article.
3. furu(biru): look old, get old.
4. furu, furu-: used, second hand.
5. furu(ku): anciently, formerly.
6. inishie: [antiquity, ancient times.
7. o(furu): used article.
8. furu(mekashii): old and farmiliar.

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 702
Henshall: 109

Unicode Encoded Version:

古

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

考古学 (koukogaku): archeology.
復古 (fukko): restoration.
古本屋 (furuhon'ya): used book store.
古美術品 (kobijutsuhin): and old art object.

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