危 (wēi) · danger; dangerous

Meanings

1 danger; dangerous
2 to endanger; to jeopardize

Characters

危

wēi

danger; dangerous

Examples

HSK 4

危险！不要过去！

Wēixiǎn! Búyào guòqù!

Danger! Don't go there!

HSK 4

他的生命有危险。

Tā de shēngmìng yǒu wēixiǎn.

His life is in danger.

HSK 4

这是一场危机。

Zhè shì yī chǎng wēijī.

This is a crisis.

Tips

usage

危 is used in: 危险 (dangerous), 危机 (crisis), 危害 (to harm), 危急 (critical/urgent), 濒危 (endangered). It is almost always used in compounds.

culture

The Chinese word for crisis, 危机, combines 危 (danger) and 机 (opportunity). While the popular claim that 'crisis = danger + opportunity' is an oversimplification, the pairing reflects a Chinese philosophical perspective on challenges.

Components

radical

㔾 jié

kneeling figure (bottom form)

Bottom shows another person, this one crouched or kneeling - looking up at the figure on the cliff above. Some readings see the two figures together as one person at the cliff edge with another below shouting warning. The kneeling-figure radical anchors 危 in the same family as 卩, 印, 即.

semantic

厃 wēi

person on a cliff edge

Top depicts a person standing on top of a cliff - the original picture for 危. The cliff ledge (the slanting 厂-shape) plus the figure above gives an unmistakable image of precarious height. This is the source of the 'danger' meaning that runs through the whole word.