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牙 in Chinese / Japanese...
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Ivory / Tooth
牙 is the character for ivory or tooth in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
牙 can also mean tooth, tusk, fang, or molar.
Hungary
This is the Chinese name for the country of Hungary.
Jamaica
This is the Chinese name for the country of Jamaica.
Portugal
This is the Chinese name for the country of Portugal.
Spain
西班牙 is the Chinese name for the country of Spain.
This is sometimes used in Japanese too, though in modern times, Japanese tend to use a Katakana version of Spain.
Tooth for a tooth
以牙還牙 is a phrase that often goes with “An eye for an eye,” even in Chinese. Revenge seems to cross all languages, cultures, and even species (animals are known to take revenge too).
If a Chinese person uses just one part of the full proverb, it will be this “tooth for a tooth” one. Although, we are more likely to say “eye for an eye” alone in English.
Chinese people may also read this with the meaning of “Bite me, and I will bite you back.” However, it literally means “tooth for a tooth” or “you take my tooth, I take yours.”
If you cannot bite, do not show your teeth
If you cannot fight, don't start one
不能咬人就别龇牙 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: [if you] can't bite people, don't bare [your] teeth.
Figuratively, this means: Don't show your anger if you can't do anything about the situation.
Some will also say this means “Don't start a fight that you cannot win.” Others will say it means that you must be willing to back up your words (perhaps with your fists).
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
Here's the full proverb, 以牙还牙以眼还眼, with the first and second parts.
However, in Chinese, it's more natural to put the “tooth” part first, so this more accurately reads “Tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye.”
If revenge is important to you, I suppose this is the phase you want on your wall.
Not the results for 牙 that you were looking for?
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 牙 search...
| Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
牙 see styles |
yá ya2 ya ge げ |
More info & calligraphy: Ivory / Tooth(1) (rare) tooth; (2) (rare) (See 象牙・ぞうげ) ivory Tooth, teeth; toothed; a broker. |
匈牙利 see styles |
xiōng yá lì xiong1 ya2 li4 hsiung ya li hangarii / hangari はんがりー |
More info & calligraphy: Hungary(ateji / phonetic) (kana only) Hungary; (place-name) Hangari- |
牙買加 牙买加 see styles |
yá mǎi jiā ya2 mai3 jia1 ya mai chia jamaika ジャマイカ |
More info & calligraphy: Jamaica(ateji / phonetic) (kana only) Jamaica |
葡萄牙 see styles |
pú táo yá pu2 tao2 ya2 p`u t`ao ya pu tao ya porutogaru ぽるとがる |
More info & calligraphy: Portugal(ateji / phonetic) (kana only) Portugal; (place-name) Portugal |
西班牙 see styles |
xī bān yá xi1 ban1 ya2 hsi pan ya supein / supen すぺいん |
More info & calligraphy: Spain(ateji / phonetic) (kana only) Spain; (place-name) Spain |
以牙還牙 以牙还牙 see styles |
yǐ yá huán yá yi3 ya2 huan2 ya2 i ya huan ya |
More info & calligraphy: Tooth for a tooth |
乳牙 see styles |
rǔ yá ru3 ya2 ju ya |
deciduous tooth; milk tooth; baby tooth |
仏牙 see styles |
butsuge ぶつげ |
{Buddh} tooth of Buddha recovered from his cremated ashes |
伯牙 see styles |
hakuga はくが |
(personal name) Hakuga |
佛牙 see styles |
fó yá fo2 ya2 fo ya butsuge |
Buddha's tooth (a holy relic) buddha's tooth |
假牙 see styles |
jiǎ yá jia3 ya2 chia ya |
false teeth; dentures |
優牙 see styles |
yuuga / yuga ゆうが |
(given name) Yūga |
光牙 see styles |
kouga / koga こうが |
(female given name) Kōga |
切牙 see styles |
qiē yá qie1 ya2 ch`ieh ya chieh ya |
incisor tooth |
刷牙 see styles |
shuā yá shua1 ya2 shua ya |
to brush one's teeth |
剔牙 see styles |
tī yá ti1 ya2 t`i ya ti ya |
to pick one's teeth |
吽牙 see styles |
ōu yá ou1 ya2 ou ya |
sound of dogs fighting, also written 吽呀[ou1 ya2] |
咬牙 see styles |
yǎo yá yao3 ya2 yao ya |
to clench one's teeth; to grind the teeth; gnaw |
基牙 see styles |
jī yá ji1 ya2 chi ya |
abutment tooth (dentistry) |
塞牙 see styles |
sāi yá sai1 ya2 sai ya |
to get food stuck between one's teeth |
大牙 see styles |
taiga たいが |
(given name) Taiga |
尖牙 see styles |
jiān yá jian1 ya2 chien ya |
canine tooth; fang; tusk |
尾牙 see styles |
wěi yá wei3 ya2 wei ya |
a year-end dinner for employees |
彈牙 弹牙 see styles |
tán yá tan2 ya2 t`an ya tan ya |
al dente |
恆牙 恒牙 see styles |
héng yá heng2 ya2 heng ya |
permanent tooth (as opposed to deciduous tooth 乳牙); adult tooth |
房牙 see styles |
fáng yá fang2 ya2 fang ya |
real estate agent (old) |
拔牙 see styles |
bá yá ba2 ya2 pa ya |
to extract a tooth |
換牙 换牙 see styles |
huàn yá huan4 ya2 huan ya |
to grow replacement teeth (zoology); to grow permanent teeth in place of milk teeth |
智牙 see styles |
zhì yá zhi4 ya2 chih ya |
wisdom tooth |
暫牙 暂牙 see styles |
zàn yá zan4 ya2 tsan ya |
deciduous tooth; milk tooth; baby tooth; also written 乳齒|乳齿[ru3 chi3] |
Click here for more 牙 results from our dictionary
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Ivory Tooth | 牙 | kiba | yá / ya2 / ya | |
| Hungary | 匈牙利 | xiōng yá lì xiong1 ya2 li4 xiong ya li xiongyali | hsiung ya li hsiungyali |
|
| Jamaica | 牙買加 牙买加 | yá mǎi jiā ya2 mai3 jia1 ya mai jia yamaijia | ya mai chia yamaichia |
|
| Portugal | 葡萄牙 | pú táo yá pu2 tao2 ya2 pu tao ya putaoya | p`u t`ao ya putaoya pu tao ya |
|
| Spain | 西班牙 | supein | xī bān yá xi1 ban1 ya2 xi ban ya xibanya | hsi pan ya hsipanya |
| Tooth for a tooth | 以牙還牙 以牙还牙 | yǐ yá huán yá yi3 ya2 huan2 ya2 yi ya huan ya yiyahuanya | i ya huan ya iyahuanya |
|
| If you cannot bite, do not show your teeth | 不能咬人就別齜牙 不能咬人就别龇牙 | bù néng yǎo rén jiù bié zī yá bu4 neng2 yao3 ren2 jiu4 bie2 zi1 ya2 bu neng yao ren jiu bie zi ya bunengyaorenjiubieziya | pu neng yao jen chiu pieh tzu ya | |
| Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth | 以牙還牙以眼還眼 以牙还牙以眼还眼 | yǐ yá huán yá yǐ yǎn huán yǎn yi3 ya2 huan2 ya2 yi3 yan3 huan2 yan3 yi ya huan ya yi yan huan yan yiyahuanyayiyanhuanyan | i ya huan ya i yen huan yen iyahuanyaiyenhuanyen |
|
| In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. | ||||
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