Taxonomy of meanings for 顯:　　

  • 顯 xiǎn (OC: qhleenʔ MC: hen) 呼典切 上 廣韻：【明也著也光也覿也又姓風俗通云有顯甫爲周卿呼典切五 】
    • VISIBLE
      • nsubject=pluralvisible place, public place
      • vadNfigurativepertaining to the surface > superficial
      • viHF: be public and clear (as the laws)
      • vtoNcausativecause to be visible, make visible
      • inchoative: visibly>BECOME
          • action take a visible official position>RANK
          • focus on>LOOK
            • subject: what is visible>SURFACE
              • causative: make visible>SHOW
                • nabactshowing oneself in public
                • vadVpublicly, demonstratively; overtly
                • viactshow oneself
                • vtoNcausativeshow off; make a show of; make visible; make public and clear; highlight
                • vttoN1.+N2show off N1 to N2, make a show of N1 for N2
                • vtoNmiddle voiceget shownCH
                • vtoNmiddle voicebe made visible/famous to NCH
                • vpostadVcause to be illustriousCH
              • politically>PUBLIC
                • socially>FAMOUS
                  • nabsocialdistinguished high social position
                  • vadNillustrious, eminent; conspicuous
                  • vibe illustrious
                  • vichangebecome famous, make a name for oneself
                  • vt+prep+Ncausativecause to be illustrious
                  • vtoNcausativecause to be illustrious; promote reputation of
                  • vtoNcausativemake (oneself) famous
                  • vtoNcausativebe made famous
                • intellectually>CLEAR
                  • v[adN]what is manifest; what is explicitCH
              • RULERS OF ZHOU
                • HEADGEAR
                  • SURNAMES
                  • 顯 ｘｉａｎ４《集韻》馨甸切，去霰曉。
                  • lǔ mù gōngRULERS OF LU
                    • NPprStandard Name: Duke Mù of Lǔ 魯穆公 (Reigned 407-377)Personal Names: Bù Yǎn 不衍 or Xiǎn 顯 Unger no. 512

                  Additional information about 顯

                  說文解字: 【顯】，頭明飾也。从頁、𣊡聲。 【臣鉉等曰：𣊡，古以爲顯字，故从𣊡聲。】 【呼典切】

                    Criteria
                  • SHOW

                    1. The most general word for making anything visible is shì 示 (ant. hán 含 "keep to oneself").

                    2. Xiàn 見 / 現 (ant. bì 蔽 "make invisible to others,") refers to making visible what is there.

                    3. Xiǎn 顯 (ant. yǐn 隱 "hide from sight") is to make something prominently visible to wider audience.

                    4. Yáng 揚 (ant. yì 抑 "suppress and keep from general knowledge") is to make something universally visible to the general public.

                    5. Zhù 著 (ant. bì 蔽 "block from sight") is to show something up as deserving great attention.

                    6. Chén 陳 (ant. cáng 藏 "hide") is to lay out something so as to make it accessible to inspection.

                    7. Zhāo 昭 (yōu 幽 "keep in obscurity") is to cast light over something so as to make it accessible to wide appreciation.

                    8. Zhāng 彰 (ant. yì 抑 is to give proper illustrious public status to something that is held to clearly deserve such recognition.

                    9. Zhú 燭 (ant. yǐn 隱 "keep in the dark") is to cast enought light on something dark in order to make it visible.

                    10. Pù 暴 is to make accessible to view what is covered and therefore inaccessible to inspection.

                  • VISIBLE

                    1. The current general word for visibility is xiàn 見 / 現 (ant. yǐn 隱 "remain hidden").

                    2. Xíng 形 (ant. cáng 藏 "be hidden") refers to taking shape or taking proper shape.

                    3. Xiào 效 (ant. huái 懷 "keep hidden within oneself") refers to somethings abstract becoming clearly manifest.

                    4. Xiǎn 顯 (ant. yōu 幽 "be in the dark and inaccessible to clear inspection") refers to something becoming prominently visible to all.

                    5. Zhāng 彰 (ant. yì 抑 "suppress wide knowledge of") refers to something becoming prominently visible to everyone in all its splendour or importance.

                  • CONCEAL

                    1. The current general word for hiding anything is yǐn 隱 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "display clearly") which refers to the hiding of anything, physically or intellectually.

                    2. Nì 匿 (ant. zhāng 章 / 彰 "make a display of") refers to the physical removal of things so as to make them inaccessible to others.

                    3. Cáng 藏 (ant. xiàn 見 ) adds to the notion of hiding that of safe keeping and collecting for use.

                    3. Fú 伏 (ant. chū 出 "come into the open") refers prinarily to hiding in a certain terrain.

                    4. Cuàn 竄 is incoative and refers to the action of going into hiding.

                    5. Yōu 幽 refers primarily to putting or leaving something in the dark and thus by extension to concealing it.

                  • SECRET

                    1. The current general word for something being kept secret from the general public, but it remaining accessible to an inner circle, is mì 密 (ant. míng 明 "openly, for everyone to see").

                    2. Yǐn 隱 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "manifestly, demonstratively") refers primarily to hiding something or being hidden from everyone except the person who is hiding it.

                    3. Yīn 陰 (ant. míng 明 "openly, for everyone to see") refers to covert actions hidden from a certain person group.

                    4. Tōu 偷 (ant. zhèng 正 "regularly and openly") refers to unreglemented inappropriate secrecy.

                    5. Sī 私 (ant. gōng 公 "openly") focusses on the aspect of discreetness in secrecy.

                    6. Jiàn 間 (ant. zhèng 正 "straightforwardly") refers to the secretiveness of secret agents in espionage and the like.

                    7. Wēi 微 (ant. zhí 直 "straightforwardly") typically refers to secrecy achieved through indirectness or subtlety in the form of communication.

                    8. Àn 暗 / 闇 (ant. míng 明 "openly, for everyone to see") gains its nuance from the original meaning of darkness and focusses on the shadiness of secretive action.

                  • DARK

                    1. The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.

                    2. Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

                    3. Xuán 玄 "very dark reddish-black" (ant. bái 白 "plain white") currently refers to mysterious obscurity of the abstract kind. See MYSTERIOUS

                    4. Huì 晦 (ant. zhāng 彰 "plain and manifest") refers to obscurity, expecially of texts or of thoughts.

                    5. Měng 蒙 (ant. yào 耀 "bright and clearly visible") refers to psychological dimness, obfuscation of mind.

                    6. Yǐn 隱 focuses on the inaccessibility to discursive reasoning of what is mysterious.

                    7. Àn 暗 / 闇 (ant. míng 明 "bright") can refer to darkness but most of the time this word actually refers abstractly to the benightedness of a ruler.

                    8. Yīn 陰 "shadowy, shaded" (ant.* liàng 亮 "bright") describes the lack of light as contrasted with surrounding light.

                    9. Ài 曖 is pervasive darkness as a general state, where mèi 昧 is darker than ài 曖.

                    10. Hēi 黑 (ant.* hào 皓 "shiny and bright") is darkness imposed by the intrinsic darkness of pigment on an object. See BLACK.

                    11. Yǎo 杳 is used in poetry as a general word referring to darkness.

                    12. Wū 烏 (ant. hào 皓 "shining white") is quite rare and refers to a high degree of darkness that is without lustre not quite pitch dark.

                  • FAMOUS

                    1. The current general term for illustiousness and extraordinary fame is xiǎn 顯 (ant. huì 晦 "obscure").

                    2. Míng 明 (ant. yōu 幽 "without any special lustre") adds to the notion of illustriousness that of supernatural authority.

                    3. Lōng 隆 and chóng 崇 (all ant. bēi 卑 "humble") adds to the general notion illustriousness overtones of elevated removedness from the world of the ordinary.

                    4. Liè 烈 and hè 赫 focus on the image of glamour radiating from those who are illustrious.

                    5. Wàng 望 (ant. wēi 微 "of slight fame" and hán 寒 "of no formal distinction") focusses especially on the aspect of illustriousness that consists in profound public admiration.

                    6. Wén 聞 is occasionally used to refer to a state of being much heard-of and well-known.

                    7. Róng 榮 refers to resplendent glory on a large scale.

                    Word relations
                  • Ant: (FAMOUS)卑/HUMBLE The current general word for objective low social status without any connotation concerning moral worth is bēi 卑 (ant. zūn 尊 "objectively venerable by social standards").
                  • Assoc: (FAMOUS)丕/BIG
                  • Assoc: (FAMOUS)尊/NOBLE Zūn 尊 (ant. bēi 卑 "lowly, vulgar") is the current word for publicly recognised objective nobility and high status, and the word refers to objective social status in society. [ELEVATED], [HIGH-DEGREE], [OBJECTIVE], [PUBLIC], [SOCIAL]
                  • Assoc: (FAMOUS)榮/FAMOUS Róng 榮 (ant. rǔ 辱 "shame, humiliation") which refers to any form of widely recognised high renown.