What does 외양간 (喂養間) mean?

 ANSWER: a stable

The 喂 (외) in 喂養間 (외양간) means "to feed [animals or babies], 養 means "to raise [animals or children], and 間 (간) means "a room," so 외양간 (喂養間) literally means "a room to feed and raise animals."

Strangely, however, my Korean-English dictionary does not show 외양간 (喂養間) as a Sino-Korean word, though my Korean-Korean dictionary does. And my Chinese character dictionary (옥편) does not even show the character 喂 (외), which causes me to wonder why since 외양간 (喂養間) is a pretty common Korean word.

Also, only Koreans seem to use 喂養間 (외양간) to mean "a stable." The Chinese word for "a stable" is 馬房 (마방), which literally means "a horse (馬) room (房)" or "a horse house."

And, finally," the Chinese also use the character "喂" (외) to mean "hello," at least when they answer the telephone. So, "喂" (외) is the Chinese equivalent of the Korean word 여보시오.

中(중)國(국)人(인)接(접)電(전)話(화)的(적)時(시)候,(후)先(선)說(설)"喂."(외)

"When the Chinese answer the phone (中國人接電話的時候), [they] first (先) say (說), 'Wéi (喂).'"