wěi / wēi
verb #17,387

Meanings

  1. 1 to entrust; to delegate
  2. 2 committee; council
  3. 3 indirect; winding

Examples

Zhè jiàn shì wěituō nǐ lái bàn.
I'm entrusting this matter to you.
Tā shì wěiyuánhuì de chéngyuán.
She is a member of the committee.

Tips

usage
wěi is the everyday reading: 委托 (to entrust), 委员会 (committee), 委屈 (to feel wronged). A separate literary reading wēi appears only in 委蛇 (winding).

Components

radical
woman; female
at the bottom is the indexing radical, a kneeling figure with crossed arms, the classical pose of yielding. With the bowed grain above, the whole picture is a person stooping in deference, the source of 'to entrust, delegate, winding'.
semantic
grain; standing crop
on top is a grain pictograph, a stalk drooping under ripe ears. Here it pictures a bowed head: heavy grain bending down is the visual metaphor for yielding and entrusting that powers the deferential senses of .

Stroke Order

wěi