布

布 (Kangxi radical 50, 巾+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 大中月 (KLB), four-corner 4022₇, composition ⿸𠂇巾)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 328, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8778
• Dae Jaweon: page 633, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 728, character 5
• Unihan data for U+5E03

Historical forms of the character 布
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *paːs) : phonetic 父 (OC *paʔ, *baʔ) + semantic 巾.

"to spread out" (tr.)

Likely from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Schuessler (2007) considers this sense to be cognate with:

• 博 (OC pâk), 博 (OC phâʔ), 敷 (OC pha), & 甫 (OC paʔ); as well as
• outside Sinitic, with Proto-Kuki-Chin *phaʔ, whence Mizo phah (“spread (as cloth, etc), to place flat on the ground”), Lai phaʔ (“spread out cloth”), Tedim Chin phaʔ³ (“spread a flat object”), Thado Chin phàa, phàt (“spread out cloth”) 

"cloth"

"Cloth" is often thought to be the same etymon as "to spread (out)" (tr.). Alternatively, Schuessler thinks this sense's Austroasiatic origin more likely. Indeed, a late Han (漢) dynasty's word for "cotton", 幏布 *ka^(H)-puo^H (Shuowen, Hou Hanshu), was borrowed from the Austroasiatic-speaking Man-Yi peoples, and a Sanskrit loan (c. 430 CE) into Northwestern dialect is 古貝 *ko^X-pei^H. Compare Proto-Austroasiatic *k-rn-pas and Proto-Mon-Khmer *kpaas (“cotton”), whence Khmer ក្របាស (krɑbaah), Bahnar kơpaih, Proto-Vietic *k-paːs (→ Vietnamese vải & Muong pái).

Additionally, Schuessler suggests that the Austroasiatic word was the source of Sanskrit कर्पास (karpāsa) & Ancient Greek κάρπασος (kárpasos). Still, earlier Johnson & Decker (1980) stated that "the problem of etymological origin of karpāsa has not been resolved".

布

1. cloth; textiles (Classifier: 匹; 塊／块)

   棉布  ―  miánbù  ―  cotton cloth

2. to announce; to proclaim

   宣布  ―  xuānbù  ―  to declare, to proclaim, to announce

3. to spread

   遍布  ―  biànbù  ―  to be found everywhere, to be spread all over

   烏雲密布／乌云密布  ―  wūyúnmìbù  ―  overcast

   老人臉上布滿了皺紋。 [MSC, trad.]
   老人脸上布满了皱纹。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎorén liǎn shàng bùmǎn le zhòuwén. [Pinyin]

   The old man's face is full of wrinkles.

4. to deploy; to set out

   布署  ―  bùshǔ  ―  to lay out; to deploy

   布下圈套  ―  bù xià quāntào  ―  to set up a trap

• → Lao: ຜ້າ (phā, “cloth”)
• → Thai: ผ้า (pâa, “cloth”)

• “布”, 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 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

• Go-on: ふ (fu, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: ほ (ho)
• Kun: ぬの (nuno, 布, Jōyō); しく (shiku, 布く)
• Nanori: たえ (tae); のぶ (nobu); よし (yoshi)

⟨nuno₁⟩ → */nunʷo/ → /nuno/

From Old Japanese,[1] from Proto-Japonic *nono.

• (Tokyo) ぬの [nùnó] (Heiban – [0])[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [nɯ̟ᵝno̞]

布(ぬの) • (nuno) 

1. cloth
2. (architecture) umbrella term for something wide, horizontal, level, parallel, etc. as in a piece of cloth

From Middle Chinese 布 (MC puH).

“Hawaii”

Short form of ateji (当て字) spelling 布哇.

• (Tokyo) ふ​ [fúꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟ᵝ]

布(ふ) • (fu) 

1. cloth
2. Short for 布銭 (fusen): a type of bronze coin used during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China

布(ふ) • (fu) 

1. cloth
2. spread out evenly
3. spread widely
4. type of ancient Chinese currency
5. (US) Short for ハワイ (“Hawaii (a state and former kingdom in the United States)”).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pʰo̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [포]

Wikisource 布 • (po) (hangeul 포)

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

From Proto-Japonic *nono.

布 (nuno₁) (kana ぬの)

1. cloth
   • 711–712, Kojiki, Second scroll, Emperor Ōjin:

     而、其王子者、服_二布衣褌_一、既爲_二賤人之形_一、執_レ檝立_レ船。

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• 絹布 (ki₁nununo₁)

• Japanese: 布 (nuno)

The eastern variant, attested from an Azuma-uta poem in the Man’yōshū. Presumably from pre-form *neno.

布 (nino₁) (kana にの)

1. (regional, Central Eastern Old Japanese) cloth
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3351:
     , text here

     筑波禰爾由伎可母布良留伊奈乎可母加奈思吉児呂我爾努保佐流可母

     Tukupa-ne ni yuki₁ ka mo puraru ina wo ka mo kanasiki₁ ko₁ro₂ ga nino₁ posaru ka mo

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

布: Hán Việt readings: bố (博(bác)故(cố)切(thiết))[1][2][3]
布: Nôm readings: bố[1][2], vú[1][3], bó[1], bồ[1], vó[1], múa[2], búa[3], vố[3], bô[4]

1. Nôm form of vú (“breast”).