Taxonomy of meanings for 憎:　　

  • 憎 zēng (OC: tsɯɯŋ MC: tsəŋ) 作滕切 平 廣韻：【憎疾 】
    • HATE
      • nabpsychhatred, hate, rejection
      • vadNhateful, characterised by a tendency to hate
      • vt+prep+Npassivebe disliked or hated; be disliked 憎於人
      • vt+V[0]hate to V
      • vtoNgradedshow comparative dislike for 甚憎
      • vtoNpassivebe detested
      • vtoNpsychdetest; harbour strong dislike
      • vt(oN)nonreferentialfeel and behave negatively towards people, hate peopleCH

    Additional information about 憎

    說文解字: 【憎】，惡也。从心、曾聲。 【作滕切】

      Criteria
    • LOVE

      1. The clearly dominant word referring to love is ài 愛 (ant. hèn 恨 "dislike"; rarely zēng 憎 "dislike"; and wù 惡 "hate"), and this word refers both to the feelings of love and to the expression of love in loving care for another person as well as in sexual relations. (Occasionally, the word may refer to the emotional preference that a small child feels for its parents. For this meaning see PREFER.)

      2. Cí 慈 (ant. xiōng 凶 "vicious") refers to loving care, prototypically by mothers for minors or their offspring. When the word refers to ordinary love, it always connotes a high degree of intensity of the caring emotion.

      3. Tì 悌 refers to love between brothers, particularly the love one owes one's eldest brother, and the word is rarely extended to mean brotherly as opposed to erotic or commiserating love.

      4. Xiào 孝 refers to loving respect for one's parents and ancestors in attitude and action, and is a major traditional virtue.

      5. Chǒng 寵 refers to enjoying the attentions and/or affections of a superior.

      6. Xìng 幸 "give sexual favours to (a subject)" and xìng yú 幸於 "enjoy the sexual favours of (a ruler) refer to love sexually expressed.

      7. Bì 嬖 refers to the enjoying of favourite status with a superior, and the term often connotes sexual relations, occasionally even of the homosexual kind.

      8. Mù 慕 prototypically refers to loving devotion of a distant kind, but the word is also used in a more generalised way to refer to affection.

      9. Hào 好 refers to love as a matter of a strong and habitual emotional preference for something. (See PREFER)

    • HATE

      1. The dominant general word referring to intense dislike is wù 惡 (ant. ài 愛 "love") which can relate to all kinds of concrete or abstract objects.

      2. Yuàn 怨 is resentment due to identified concrete causes, and the emotion is typically directed towards superiors or equals.

      3. Zēng 憎 (ant. ài 愛 "love") is a rather mild and lingering form of resentment directed at a person.

      4. Jí 疾 / 嫉 can refer to intense personally focussed resentment.

      5. Jì 忌, jí 嫉, and dù 妒 refer to intense personal resentment typically occasioned by envy for some success in love (jealousy) or in politics.

      6. Hèn 恨 "nourish feelings of hatred" is relatively rare in this meaning in pre-Qin times, and it stresses the emotional aspect of hatred.

      7. Yàn 厭 "come to be fed up with" (ant. hào 好 "be fond of") is a resentment due to overexposure to some condition or to a person's behaviour.

      8. Fán 煩 "be irritated at, be annoyed with" refers to a dissatisfaction due to overexposure to some condition or to a person's behaviour.

      9. Kǔ 苦 "resent bitterly", huàn 患 "REGARD AS DISASTROUS> be upset by", and bìng 病 "feel profoundly offended" focus on resentment of some prevailing condition as insufferable and may be directed at responsible officials but not primarily in a personal way.

      10. Wàng 望 is archaising word typically referrring to resentment against superiors.

      Word relations
    • Ant: (HATE)善/PRAISE Měi 美 and shàn 善 (all ant. wù 惡 "speak ill of") refer to the bringing out of positive, admirable or morally commendable aspects in something or someone through discourse.
    • Ant: (HATE)愛/LOVE The clearly dominant word referring to love is ài 愛 (ant. hèn 恨 "dislike"; rarely zēng 憎 "dislike"; and wù 惡 "hate"), and this word refers both to the feelings of love and to the expression of love in loving care for another person as well as in sexual relations. (Occasionally, the word may refer to the emotional preference that a small child feels for its parents. For this meaning see PREFER.)
    • Ant: (HATE)甘/DESIRE Gān 甘 derives its special force from the culinary meaning "have a taste for" and refers to any predilection, typically for material things.
    • Ant: (HATE)好/DESIRE Hào 好 (ant.* yàn 厭 "be fed up with VPing") refers to a general strong, and strongly motivated, inclination in favour of something. 好戰 "is fond of warfare". xxx
    • Ant: (HATE)好/LIKE The general words expressing preference is ài 愛, but the notion is often hard to distinguish from a preferential desire, and for the semantically closely related hào 好 see DESIRE.
    • Assoc: (HATE)慍/ANGER Yùn 慍 (ant. yì 懌 "feel perfectly pleased with something") is mild lingering indignation which may or may not be overt. See ANGUISH