<p>厭(厌) is a phono-semantic character. The "dog" part only indicate its pronunciation.<br>
In Old Chinese, this character means "fulfilled". Then its meaning changed to "become bored, dislike". So 討厭 literally means "ask for + being disliked". </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-12T09:28:26.130Z
2016-04-12T09:28:26.130Z
Winfred Huang
<p>This <a href="http://www.jiagumima.com/html/jiaguwenzidian_4800.html" rel="nofollow">link</a> says it all. My rough translation, and really my understanding, of this source is as follows:</p>

<p>厭 is from 猒 (same pronunciation). In 猒, what looks to me like 日 and 月 is actually a big mouth, and sharp teeth. The dog (犬) signifies hunting. So, you hunt large beasts, and you become disgusted (sick of) eating so much meat. Over time, a cliff  厂 is added, as it's a common hunting ground. </p>

<p>Of course, years later, the meaning expands to include "dislike due to having too much of something". </p>

<p>Onto 討. This <a href="http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&amp;characterInput=%E8%A8%8E" rel="nofollow">site</a> provides etymology explanations, as well as definition. Or check out <a href="http://vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=837" rel="nofollow">this one</a>, where you see that in its verb form, it more or less means "to bring upon oneself". </p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-15T22:23:15.720Z
2016-04-15T22:23:15.720Z
judester
<p>As far as I know 寸 is a depiction of </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>a finger pointing at a wrist where one’s pulse was taken. The distance
  between a hand and that point is small, so this portion signified a
  little…</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DOrvJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DOrvJ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>So IMHO 寸 has the double meaning of:</p>

<ol>
<li>to measure</li>
<li>to press</li>
</ol>

<p>Some say 寸 has the additional meaning of "something small" (I personally doubt that, yet).</p>

<p>So 討 should mean 言(to talk) + 寸(to press) = to ask, to demand.</p>

<p>Examples:
  1.討親  to marry a wife. 
  2.討求  ask, beg, demand, (to press on with ones desires)
  3.討情  ask for leniency. 
  4.討伐  to suppress rebels, to vindicate authority. 
  5.討飯  beg for food.</p>

<p>So here we can see that "to press" and "to ask" are somewhat synonyms under the roof of 寸.</p>

<p>But 討厭? I can't understand how "to press/ask" + "dog eating meat in cave" should form a meaning of "to hate".</p>

<p>Does anyone know the story behind that 討厭 word?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-12T09:29:00.273Z
You ask a lot of questions that try to derive "stories" from the Chinese characters of every word. Not all Chinese characters are a perfect fit for the words that are written with them because meanings shift and some phonetic elements really are meaningless.
KWeiss
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-12T11:52:52.113Z
I bet not every character has a story! But If some of them have, I would like to hear it. :) If you have a story then you obtain delicate tools for "hearing" different connotations in many similar charactes. That's the best part of chinese for me.
coobit
<etymology><glyph-origin>
Enigma of 討厭. Why does it mean "to hate"?
# Enigma of 討厭. Why does it mean "to hate"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-12)

As far as I know 寸 is a depiction of

> a finger pointing at a wrist where one’s pulse was taken. The distance
> between a hand and that point is small, so this portion signified a
> little…

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DOrvJ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/DOrvJ.jpg)

So IMHO 寸 has the double meaning of:

1. to measure
2. to press

Some say 寸 has the additional meaning of "something small" (I personally doubt that, yet).

So 討 should mean 言(to talk) + 寸(to press) = to ask, to demand.

Examples:
1.討親 to marry a wife.
2.討求 ask, beg, demand, (to press on with ones desires)
3.討情 ask for leniency.
4.討伐 to suppress rebels, to vindicate authority.
5.討飯 beg for food.

So here we can see that "to press" and "to ask" are somewhat synonyms under the roof of 寸.

But 討厭? I can't understand how "to press/ask" + "dog eating meat in cave" should form a meaning of "to hate".

Does anyone know the story behind that 討厭 word?

**Tags:** etymology, glyph-origin
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You ask a lot of questions that try to derive "stories" from the Chinese characters of every word. Not all Chinese characters are a perfect fit for the words that are written with them because meanings shift and some phonetic elements really are meaningless.  
> **username_0**: I bet not every character has a story! But If some of them have, I would like to hear it. :) If you have a story then you obtain delicate tools for "hearing" different connotations in many similar charactes. That's the best part of chinese for me.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-04-12. Score: 2

厭(厌) is a phono-semantic character. The "dog" part only indicate its pronunciation.  
In Old Chinese, this character means "fulfilled". Then its meaning changed to "become bored, dislike". So 討厭 literally means "ask for + being disliked".


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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-04-15. Score: 1

This [link](http://www.jiagumima.com/html/jiaguwenzidian_4800.html) says it all. My rough translation, and really my understanding, of this source is as follows:

厭 is from 猒 (same pronunciation). In 猒, what looks to me like 日 and 月 is actually a big mouth, and sharp teeth. The dog (犬) signifies hunting. So, you hunt large beasts, and you become disgusted (sick of) eating so much meat. Over time, a cliff 厂 is added, as it's a common hunting ground.

Of course, years later, the meaning expands to include "dislike due to having too much of something".

Onto 討. This [site](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=%E8%A8%8E) provides etymology explanations, as well as definition. Or check out [this one](http://vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=837), where you see that in its verb form, it more or less means "to bring upon oneself".

Hope this helps.


---

