枯

枯 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 木十口 (DJR), four-corner 4496₀, composition ⿰木古)

• 喖, 𤋹, 𩹬, 𬃱, 𬄮, 𬅂, 𢉽

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 517, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14579
• Dae Jaweon: page 904, character 18
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1178, character 3
• Unihan data for U+67AF

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *kʰaː): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ).

Apparently Austroasiatic; compare Khmer ខះ (khah, “to dry up; to wither”) (Schuessler, 2007), which is from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ckəh (“dry”).

枯

1. (of plants, etc.) dry; withered

   枯萎  ―  kūwěi  ―  wilted; withered

   枯枝  ―  kūzhī  ―  withered tree branch

   • 行冬令，則草木蚤枯，後乃大水，敗其城郭。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     行冬令，则草木蚤枯，后乃大水，败其城郭。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Xíng dōng lìng, zé cǎomù zǎo kū, hòu nǎi dàshuǐ, bài qí chéngguō. [Pinyin]

     If the proceedings proper to winter were observed, all plants and trees would wither early, and afterwards, there would be great floods, destroying city and suburban walls.

2. (of wells, rivers, etc.) dried out
3. (of muscle) withered; decayed
4. boring; uninteresting; dry

   枯燥  ―  kūzào  ―  dull; boring

5. (dialect) dregs
6. (traditional Chinese medicine) partial paralysis
7. a surname

(Jōyō kanji)

1. wither; dry up

• Go-on: く (ku)
• Kan-on: こ (ko, Jōyō)
• Kun: かれる (kareru, 枯れる, Jōyō)、からす (karasu, 枯らす, Jōyō)

枯 (eumhun 마를 고 (mareul go))

1. hanja form^? of 고 (“dry up, wither”)
2. hanja form^? of 고 (“thirst”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, gỗ): semantic 木 (“wood, tree”) + phonetic 古 (cổ).

枯: Hán Việt readings: khô^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}
枯: Nôm readings: khô^[1][2][3], gỗ^[1][2], khò^[3], khua^[3]

1. chữ Hán form of khô (“dry, dried”)
2. chữ Nôm form of gỗ (“wood”)