Taxonomy of meanings for 洪:　　

  • 洪 hóng (OC: ɡooŋ MC: ɦuŋ) 戸戶公切 平 廣韻：【大也亦姓共工氏之後本姓共氏後改爲洪氏戸公切二十二 】
    • FLOOD
        • audible feature>ONOMATOPOETICA
          • feature>BIG
            • vadNvast; typical only in 洪水 'flood'
            • vadNfigurativebig > magnificent, great
            • viexpansive and large
          • characteristic action>FLOW
          • CLASSIFIERS
            • PARTICLES
            • REGIONS
              • SURNAMES
                • REIGNS (洪武之省略)

                Additional information about 洪

                說文解字: 【洪】，洚水也。从水、共聲。 【戶工切】

                  Criteria
                • BIG

                  [[COMMON/RARE]]

                  [ELEVATED/FAMILIAR]

                  [+FIG/LITERAL]

                  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

                  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

                  [HORIZONTAL/VERTICAL]

                  1. The general word is dà 大 (ant. xiǎo 小 "small").

                  [GENERAL]; [[COMMON]]

                  2. Jù 巨 "huge" (ant. xì 細 "slight") indicates a higher degree of size.

                  [HIGH-DEGREE+], [LITERAL], [VERTICAL]

                  3. Kuí 魁 and páng 龐 (ant. wēi 微 "small and slight"), both rare, add to the notion of vertical size that of impressiveness.

                  [+FIG], [HIGH-DEGREE], [VERTICAL]; [[RARE]]

                  4. Hóng 洪 refers to the size of water masses, and the word is often used in metaphorical senses.

                  [ELEVATED], [+FIG], [HORIZONTAL]

                  5. Hào 昊 refers to the vastness of the sky, as a poetic elevated epithet (sometimes perhaps confused by scribes with 旻 ).

                  [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [+FIG], [HORIZONTAL]

                  6. Jù 巨 "huge" (ant. xì 細 "slight") indicates a very high degree of size.

                  Word relations
                • Contrast: (BIG)大/BIG The general word is dà 大 (ant. xiǎo 小 "small").
                • Contrast: (BIG)大/GREAT Dà 大 (ant. xiǎo 小 "insignificant") is often used to refer to generally recognised awe-inspiring status (for example of a king etc) rather than mere size.