Hangul syllable mik

On a Korean 2-beolsik keyboard, press A, L, then Z. These keys enter ㅁ, ㅣ, and ㅋ. The input method—the software that turns keystrokes into Korean—joins them in one block, with final ㅋ beneath 미.

Unicode can also store 밐 as three separate Hangul building blocks, called jamo. NFC normalization joins them into one block; NFD leaves them separate. The final consonant, called batchim, carries into the next syllable when a vowel follows; at a word end, it closes with a short k sound. A blank box means the font or text system cannot display the glyph.

What does 밐 mean?

It is a Korean written syllable, not a reaction symbol. The label “mik” describes how the block is built: ㅁ, ㅣ, and final ㅋ. It is not a translation, and by itself it does not identify the Korean word around it.

Hangul was designed for writing Korean in a setting where formal writing relied on Chinese characters. Earlier methods—idu, hyangchal, and gugyeol—adapted those characters for Korean, but awkwardly. The earliest official record of Hunminjeongeum, the name of the script and its guidebook, is from 1443; the guidebook was published in 1446.

The script's social standing and names changed. It was also called jeongeum and eonmun; after the Gabo Reform of 1894, gukmun and gukseo were common names for Korean writing. Hangeul appears in records in early 1910s and became widely used in 1928. In Chosŏn-era Korea, literary Chinese held elite public prestige, while vernacular Korean writing was closely associated with women's private letters, literature, and calligraphy. Later public and scholarly use gave Hangul a national role.