下

下 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一卜 (MY), four-corner 1023₀, composition ⿱一卜)

• 𬽥, 吓, 圷, 𢗄, 𢩹, 𪵩, 𨑜, 𭠏, 𭩙, 𬾂, 𧘔, 𠀴, 虾, 𠖈, 𣑎, 𬇭, 𠁄, 𮧉, 𤲂, 𮏱, 𣗱, 𠁑, 𥰊, 𣍋, 𡬈, 𬕹
• 𠀨, 𠁚, 乤, 𠮴, 忑, 𠀿, 颪, 𫇥, 𭆼, 芐, 𪱱, 𣲉, 𥫫, 𠀳, 𫢵, 𰂖, 雫, 梺, 𭡍, 𠁎, 疜, 閇
• 𰉌, 垰, 峠, 挊, 桛, 裃, 𧧎, 鞐

• KangXi: page 76, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14
• Dae Jaweon: page 147, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 7, character 1
• Unihan data for U+4E0B

Historical forms of the character 下
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script j00145 j00146 j00147 j00148 j00149 j00150 j00151 j00152 j00153 j00154 j00155 j00156 j00157 j00158 j00159 j00160 j00161 j00162 Bronze inscriptions b00153 b00154 b00155 b00156 b00157 b00158 b00159 b00160 b00161 b00162 Small seal script s00016 Transcribed ancient scripts L34992 L34993 L34994 L34995 L34996 L34997 L34998 L34999 L35000 L35001 L17177 L17178 L17179 L17180 L17181 L17182 L17183
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

下 in its shell and bone form is an ideogram (指事) that shows the concept of down by showing one line below another (contrast 上). The shell and bone form evolved into 下, the character used today.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(k/g)la-k/j/t (“to fall”) (STEDT):

• inside Sinitic, cognate to 落 (OC *ɡ·raːɡ, “to fall, to drop”), 露 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs, “dew”), 陊 (OC *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ, “to collapse”) and 阤 (OC *l'alʔ, *hljalʔ, “hillside, slope”);
• outside Sinitic, cognate to Mizo tla ~ tlâk (“to fall”), thla ~ thlâk (“to drop”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall”) and ချ (hkya., “to drop”).

Schuessler (2007) instead proposed an Austroasiatic origin by comparing 下 (OC *ɡraːʔ, “to descend, down, below”) to Khmer [script needed] (gra'ka, “be low, debased”); additionally, he suggested that Sino-Tibetan influence had possibly caused the weakening of foreign final *-k to OC final *-ʔ. He derives the departing tone (去聲) pronunciation via two derivations:

• 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to be put down”) is an exopassive derivation (ibid.);
• 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to descend, to fall”) is a later, general departing tone derivative (ibid.).

下

1. (lower; inferior; located below)

   Antonym: 上 (shàng)

   1. low position

      下層／下层  ―  xiàcéng  ―  lower level

   2. lower part of; under

      樹下／树下  ―  shùxià  ―  under the tree

      樓下／楼下  ―  lóuxià  ―  downstairs

      1. under the influence of; with

         在這些條件下／在这些条件下  ―  zài zhèxiē tiáojiàn xià  ―  under these conditions

         在朋友的幫助下／在朋友的帮助下  ―  zài péngyǒu de bāngzhù xià  ―  with help from friends

         在藥師指導下／在药师指导下  ―  zài yàoshī zhǐdǎo xià  ―  under the instruction of a pharmacist

   3. later; next

      下個世紀／下个世纪  ―  xià ge shìjì  ―  the next century

      下卷  ―  xiàjuǎn  ―  Volume II

   4. ^† inferior, poor

      下人  ―  xiàrén  ―  servant

      下品  ―  xiàpǐn  ―  inferior products

   5. (Min Dong, Min Nan, Xiang) low (quantity or absolute position)

      alt. forms: 低 (dī) (Min Nan)

2. (to go to a lower place)

   Antonym: 上 (shàng)

   1. to go down; to descend (as complement) downwards; down

      你快下來。／你快下来。  ―  Nǐ kuài xià lái.  ―  Come down here.

      下海  ―  xiàhǎi  ―  to go to sea

      下樓／下楼  ―  xiàlóu  ―  to go downstairs

      下山  ―  xiàshān  ―  to go down the mountain

      走下  ―  zǒuxià  ―  to walk down

      落下  ―  luòxià  ―  to fall down

      跳下深淵／跳下深渊  ―  tiàoxià shēnyuān  ―  to jump down to an abyss

      1. (as complement) completely, thoroughly

         拿下  ―  náxià  ―  to capture; to arrest

         打下基礎／打下基础  ―  dǎxià jīchǔ  ―  to lay the foundation

   2. to get out of; to leave; to alight; to get off

      下船  ―  xiàchuán  ―  to disembark from a boat

      下床  ―  xiàchuáng  ―  to get out of bed

      1. to finish, to complete

         下班  ―  xiàbān  ―  to get off work

         下課／下课  ―  xiàkè  ―  to finish class

   3. ^† to go to somewhere considered poor or inferior

      下鄉／下乡  ―  xiàxiāng  ―  to go to the countryside

      下館子／下馆子  ―  xiàguǎnzǐ  ―  to go to the restaurant

      下野  ―  xiàyě  ―  to be forced to step down

   4. (colloquial) Short for 下線 (“to log out”).
3. (to move something to a lower place)
   1. (with limited objects, often figuratively) to put something down

      下筆／下笔  ―  xiàbǐ  ―  to start writing (lit., "to put the inkbrush down")

      下腳／下脚  ―  xiàjiǎo  ―  to have a small place to stand in (lit., "to put the feet down")

      下藥／下药  ―  xiàyào  ―  to drug someone (lit., "to put the drug down")

      下榻  ―  xiàtà  ―  to stay the night (lit., "to put the bed down")

      1. to put food into boiling water

         下麵條／下面条  ―  xià miàntiáo  ―  to put noodles into boiling water

         下餃子／下饺子  ―  xià jiǎozǐ  ―  to put dumplings into boiling water

      2. to rain or snow

         下雪  ―  xiàxuě  ―  to snow

         下雨  ―  xiàyǔ  ―  to rain

      3. to give birth (as an animal)

         下豬仔／下猪仔  ―  xià zhūzaǐ  ―  to have piglets

         下蛋  ―  xiàdàn  ―  to lay eggs

      4. (colloquial) Short for 下載 (“to download”).

         先去下個軟件。／先去下个软件。  ―  Xiān qù xià ge ruǎnjiàn.  ―  Download the software first.

   2. to give or issue something to an inferior person

      下令  ―  xiàlìng  ―  to issue an order

      1. to send an invitation

         下戰書／下战书  ―  xià zhànshū  ―  to send a letter of challenge

   3. ^† to conquer

      連下三城／连下三城  ―  lián xià sān chéng  ―  to achieve three goals successively (lit. "to conquer three forts successively")

4. (a short time)
   1. (historical, obsolete) Synonym of 點／点 (diǎn): an ancient unit of time, equal to 24 minutes
   2. (colloquial) (as complement) Short for 一下.

      alt. forms: 吓 (Cantonese)

      1. for a short time; for one moment

         等下  ―  děng xià  ―  wait a moment

      2. give something a go

         看下  ―  kàn xià  ―  take a look

         睇下 [Cantonese]  ―  tai² haa⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  take a look

         聞下／闻下 [Cantonese]  ―  man⁴ haa⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  try smelling it

   3. Classifier for the number of occurrences: time

      敲三下門。／敲三下门。  ―  Qiāo sān xià mén.  ―  Knock at the door three times.

• 落 (luò)