음

Korean

으 윽 윾 윿 은 읁 읂 읃 을 읅 읆 읇 읈 읉 읊 읋 음 읍 읎 읏 읐 응 읒 읓 읔 읕 읖 읗
유 ←	의 →

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 陰 (“the female principle yin”) .

Pronunciation

• IPA: ɯm
• Phonetic hangul: 음

Romanization

Revised	eum
McCune–Reischauer	ŭm

Noun

음 (eum, hanja 陰)

1. yin, the essential female principle in eastern religion or philosophy

Antonyms

• 양 (yang, “the male principle yang”, 陽)

Related terms

• 음양 (eumyang, “yin-yang”, 陰陽)

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 音 (“sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation”) .

Noun

음 (eum, hanja 音)

1. sound

Derived terms

• 음훈 (eumhun, “reading the sound and meaning of a Hanja together”, 音訓)
• 음악 (eum-ak, “reading the sound and meaning of a Hanja together”, 音樂)

Synonyms

• 소리 (sori)

Etymology 3

Suffix

음 (eum)

1. the act of; the process of; -tion; -ion; -ing

   음 (eum) is appended to a verb stem that ends with a consonant to nominalize the verb.

   • 갚음; 감음; 남음

     gapeum; gameum; nameum

     (the act of) repaying; a washing; (the process of) profiting

Usage notes

The nominalized verbs formed by appending 음 (eum) often correspond to the gerund in English, but many have acquired additional meaning:

• 걷다 (geotda, “to walk”) + 음 (eum): 걸음 (georeum, “step, pace”)
• 돕다 (dopda, “to help”) + 음 (eum): 도움 (doum, “assistance, support”)
• 믿다 (mitda, “to believe”) + 음 (eum): 믿음 (mideum, “trust”)

If the verb stem ends with a vowel, ㅁ (m) is appended instead:

• 가다 (gada, “to go”) + ㅁ (m): 감 (gam, “going”)
• 나누다 (nanuda, “to divide”) + ㅁ (m): 나눔 (nanum, “division”)

Synonyms

• 기 (gi)