媒

méi
noun #6,360

Meanings

  1. 1 media; intermediary
  2. 2 matchmaker

Examples

HSK 1
Tā shì wǒmen de méirén.
She is our matchmaker.
HSK 5
Méitǐ bàodào le zhè jiàn shì.
The media reported on this matter.

Tips

usage
媒 is used in: 媒体 (media), 媒介 (medium/intermediary), 媒人 (matchmaker), 自媒体 (self-media/social media). The traditional matchmaker role (媒人) inspired the modern 'media' meaning.

Components

radical
女 nǚ
woman
Left 女 is the indexing woman radical, a kneeling figure with arms folded, the classic posture for the female-person glyph. Anchors 媒 because the original matchmaker (媒人) was traditionally a woman. Same radical family: 妈 mother, 姐 elder sister, 婚 marriage, 嫁 to wed. The radical signals a person-and-relationship word.
phonetic
某 mǒu
certain one (here phonetic)
Right 某 supplies the sound, mǒu drifting to méi through regular Old Chinese vowel shift. Same phonetic family: 谋 móu to plot, 煤 méi coal. 某 itself was originally a plum tree, later borrowed for 'certain unspecified person'. Fittingly, the matchmaker introduces 某男某女 'a certain man and a certain woman' to each other.

Stroke Order

媒 méi