CJK Character 闊 (kuò)

It means broad or wide, but older usage also marked distance. The earliest documented evidence is in bronze-inscription writing, text cast on bronze vessels. Its traditional analysis is 門, meaning door or gate, plus 活 for sound; its first gloss is 疏遠, “being apart.”

So read the whole word, not 闊 alone. 闊達 describes a broad-minded person; 闊綽 and 闊氣 point to lavish money; 闊別 preserves the old separation sense.

Why does 闊 mean distant?

Distance is one of 闊's older senses. Classical usage extends it to remoteness, infrequency, and parting, while the “wide” sense became prominent in later compounds such as words for spacious places and open scope.

Script tradition changes the glyph, not the core history: simplified Chinese uses 阔. Japanese references use 闊 in compounds such as 闊達, read katsu, for an open-minded manner.

How do I type 闊?

Use a Chinese IME and pick the traditional candidate. An IME is the input tool that converts roman letters into Chinese characters. Type Mandarin kuò, often entered as kuo4; if the list offers 阔, choose 闊 for this exact form. Cangjie code is 日弓水竹口.

Fonts may draw the same character slightly differently. 濶 is a documented variant; 阔 is the simplified counterpart. Copy it from the palette above and confirm after conversion.