要

要 (Kangxi radical 146, 襾+3, 9 strokes, cangjie input 一田女 (MWV), four-corner 1040₄, composition ⿱覀女)

• 偠 喓 㙘 婹 崾 𢞅 𢰳 㴗 楆 𰃥 腰 䁏 䙅 䌁 𨪁 騕 㫏 覅 䳩 葽 嫑 嘦 闄 𧟰

• 𛀓
• 𡚩

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1128, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34768
• Dae Jaweon: page 1597, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2805, character 8
• Unihan data for U+8981

Historical forms of the character 要
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) : a woman (女) with two hands pointing to her midsection.

Original meaning was “waist” (now 腰 (OC *qew)). The hands gradually shifted upwards; the 覀 in the modern form evolved from the hands and the woman's head.

要

1. to demand; to ask; to request

   要求  ―  yāoqiú  ―  to request

2. to force; to coerce

   要脅／要胁  ―  yāoxié  ―  to threaten, to blackmail

3. to promise

   要約／要约  ―  yāoyuē  ―  to restrict, to agree to a contract/offer/bid

4. to block; to intercept

   要擊／要击  ―  yāojī  ―  to intercept, to ambush

5. (obsolete) Alternative form of 邀 (“to invite”)

   • 便要還家，設酒殺雞作食。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     便要还家，设酒杀鸡作食。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 421, Tao Yuanming, 桃花源記

     Biàn yāo huánjiā, shè jiǔ shā jī zuò shí. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. (obsolete) Alternative form of 腰 (“waist”)
7. (obsolete) contract of alliance

   久要  ―  jiǔyāo  ―  former contract

8. a surname

要

1. to want; to wish

   我要睡覺。／我要睡觉。  ―  Wǒ yào shuìjiào.  ―  I want to sleep.

   你要不要喝茶？  ―  Nǐ yào bù yào hē chá?  ―  Do you want some tea?

2. to wish to have or keep

   你要番茄醬嗎？／你要番茄酱吗？  ―  Nǐ yào fānqiéjiàng ma?  ―  Do you want ketchup?

   這本書你還要嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   这本书你还要吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè běn shū nǐ hái yào ma? [Pinyin]

   Do you still want this book?

   他想要一部新手機。 [MSC, trad.]
   他想要一部新手机。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā xiǎng yào yī bù xīn shǒujī. [Pinyin]

   He wants to have a new cell phone.

3. to ask for

   我要了一瓶啤酒。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Wǒ yào le yī píng píjiǔ. [Pinyin]

   I asked for a bottle of beer.

   弟弟又跟媽媽要錢了。 [MSC, trad.]
   弟弟又跟妈妈要钱了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Dìdì yòu gēn māmā yào qián le. [Pinyin]

   My brother asked mom for money again.

4. to request

   他要我給他買本書。 [MSC, trad.]
   他要我给他买本书。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā yào wǒ gěi tā mǎi běn shū. [Pinyin]

   He requested that I buy a book for him.

   老闆要我馬上回覆。 [MSC, trad.]
   老板要我马上回覆。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎobǎn yào wǒ mǎshàng huífù. [Pinyin]

   My boss demanded that I reply immediately.

5. to need

   從這裡到上海要兩個小時。 [MSC, trad.]
   从这里到上海要两个小时。 [MSC, simp.]

   Cóng zhèlǐ dào Shànghǎi yào liǎng ge xiǎoshí. [Pinyin]

   It takes two hours to reach Shanghai from here.

   養大一個孩子要多少錢？ [MSC, trad.]
   养大一个孩子要多少钱？ [MSC, simp.]

   Yǎng dà yī ge háizǐ yào duōshào qián? [Pinyin]

   How much does it take to raise a child?

6. will; going to (future auxiliary)

   我要走了。  ―  Wǒ yào zǒu le.  ―  I am going to go.

   我怕我們要遲到了。 [MSC, trad.]
   我怕我们要迟到了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ pà wǒmen yào chídào le. [Pinyin]

   I fear that we will be late.

   出便咁黑，又好似要落雨噉。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   ceot¹ bin⁶ gam³ hak¹, jau⁶ hou² ci⁵ jiu³ lok⁶ jyu⁵ gam². [Jyutping]

   It looks like it's going to rain outside.

7. should; must; to have to

   不要喝酒。  ―  Bùyào hē jiǔ.  ―  Don't drink alcohol.

   你今天一定要去看病。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Nǐ jīntiān yīdìng yào qù kànbìng. [Pinyin]

   You must go to the doctor today.

   你要等一會兒，我的老闆現在正忙得不可開交。 [MSC, trad.]
   你要等一会儿，我的老板现在正忙得不可开交。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ yào děng yīhuìr, wǒ de lǎobǎn xiànzài zhèng máng de bùkěkāijiāo. [Pinyin]

   You have to wait a moment. My boss is extremely busy now.

8. vital; important

   要職／要职  ―  yàozhí  ―  important post

   主要  ―  zhǔyào  ―  main

9. important points; essentials
10. if; in case of

    要繫腰帶，就用不著吊帶了。 [MSC, trad.]
    要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。 [MSC, simp.]

    Yào jì yāodài, jiù yòngbùzháo diàodài le. [Pinyin]

    You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt.

11. (dated Shanghainese) Used to indicate the future tense.

    Synonym: 快

• Beware that 要飯／要饭 (yàofàn, literally “to want rice”) is a phrase with the meaning "to be a beggar/loafer" which is insulting to others and should be avoided when asking a person whether they want rice.

要

1. (archaic) Alternative form of 偠 (yǎo)
2. Used in 要褭／要袅.

• “要”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. need, necessity
2. essential

• Go-on: よう (yō, Jōyō)^{←えう (eu, historical)←𛀁う (yeu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: よう (yō, Jōyō)^{←えう (eu, historical)←𛀁う (yeu, ancient)}
• Kun: いる (iru, 要る, Jōyō); かなめ (kaname, 要, Jōyō); かのめ (kanome, 要); ぬま (numa, 要); ぬみ (numi, 要)

From Middle Chinese 要 (MC 'jiew|'jiewH).

First cited to 611 CE.[2]

• (Tokyo) よ​ー [yóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[3]
• IPA^(key): [jo̞ː]

要(よう) • (yō) ^{←えう (eu)?}

1. [611] key, important point
2. [circa 999] essential piece of something, requirement

   要(よう)予約(よやく)

   yō yoyaku

   reservation is required

要 (kaname, kanome): the kaname is the metal rivet at the base of the handle.

要 (kaname, kanome): close-up of the kaname of a fan.

/kani no me/ → /kanome/ → /kaname/

A shift from older 蟹の目 (kani no me, “crab's eye”) from a superficial resemblance of the round pinhead of a folding fan to a crab's eye, influenced by a reanalysis of the term as 金目 (kaname, literally “metal” + visually prominent feature), as the pins were increasingly made from metal instead of earlier bamboo, wood, or whalebone.[4]

First cited to 1220.[2]

• (Tokyo) かなめ [kànámé] (Heiban – [0])[3][5][6]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠na̠me̞]

要(かなめ) • (kaname) 

1. [1254] a pin or rivet holding the spines of a folding fan together

   Synonyms: 要 (kanome), 蟹の目 (kani no me)

2. [1220] (by extension) a pivot, cornerstone, keystone

   Synonym: (cornerstone, keystone) 要石 (kaname ishi)

3. [1612] a pin, often decorated, holding the handle to the tang of a katana

   Synonym: 目貫 (menuki)

4. [1712] Short for 要黐 (kaname mochi): a tree, Japanese photinia (Photinia glabra)

   Synonyms: カナメモチ (kaname mochi), (kanji spelling seems to be less common) 要黐 (kaname mochi)

5. [1906] (architecture) in a certain kind of traditional Japanese hip roof where the rafters splay out like the spines of a fan, the central point to which the rafter lines converge

   Coordinate term: (literally “fan rafter”) 扇垂木 (ōgi taruki)

要(かなめ) • (Kaname) 

1. a female given name

/kani no me/ → /kanome/

A shift from older 蟹の目 (kani no me, “crab's eye”) from a superficial resemblance of the round pinhead of a folding fan to a crab's eye, influenced by a reanalysis of the term as 金目 (kaname, literally “metal” + visually prominent feature), as the pins were increasingly made from metal instead of earlier bamboo, wood, or whalebone.[4]

First cited to roughly 1140.[2] This reading may be obsolete, and it is not included in some dictionaries.[3][5][6]

• IPA^(key): [ka̠no̞me̞]

要(かのめ) • (kanome) 

1. [circa 1140] (archaic, possibly obsolete) the pin or rivet holding the spines of a folding fan together

• 要(かなめ) (kaname)

From Old Japanese. Further derivation unknown.

First cited in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE, listed with both readings numa and numi.[7]

• IPA^(key): [nɯ̟ᵝma̠]
• IPA^(key): [nɯ̟ᵝmʲi]

要(ぬま) or 要(ぬみ) • (numa or numi) 

1. [720] (archaic, possibly obsolete) fortress, redoubt
2. [720] (archaic, possibly obsolete) important point, key

要 (eumhun 중요할 요 (jung'yohal yo))

1. Hanja form^? of 요 (“importance”).

• 주요 (主要, juyo, “main”)

要: Hán Nôm readings: yếu, yêu

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.