동무

Korean

Etymology

First attested in the Beonyeok nogeoldae (飜譯老乞大 / 번역노걸대), 1517, as Middle Korean 도ᇰ모〮 (Yale: twòngmwó). May be ultimately of Sino-Korean origin, from 동모 (同謀, dongmo, “planning together; complotting; collusion”).

Alternatively, it could be of native origin and influenced by 동 (同, dong, “together”); compare Japanese 友(とも) (tomo, “friend, pal”).

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [to̞ŋmu]
Phonetic hangul: [동무]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	dongmu
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	dongmu
McCune–Reischauer^?	tongmu
Yale Romanization^?	tongmu

Noun

동무 • (dongmu)

(now chiefly North Korea, archaic in South Korea) friend, mate, pal
Synonyms: 벗 (beot), 친구 (chin'gu)
(politics) comrade
Synonyms: 동지 (dongji), 동료 (dongnyo)

Usage notes

동무 (dongmu) was originally a non-ideological, neutral word for "friend" once used all over the Korean Peninsula, but North Koreans later adopted it as the equivalent of the Communist term of address "comrade". As a result, to South Koreans today the word has a heavy left-wing political tinge, and as such the South Koreans have shifted to using other words for friend like 친구(親舊) (chin'gu) or 벗 (beot).

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