曜

yào

noun

Meanings

1 bright; shining
2 one of the seven luminaries of premodern astronomy (sun, moon and five planets)

Characters

曜

yào

bright; luminary

Examples

HSK 7-9

旧历法中，七曜用来命名一周的日子。

Jiù lìfǎ zhōng, qī yào yònglái mìngmíng yìzhōu de rìzi.

In old almanacs the seven luminaries name the days of the week.

HSK 7-9

日语里星期日写作“日曜日”。

Rìyǔ li xīngqīrì xiězuò " rìyàorì ".

The Japanese word for Sunday literally means "sun-luminary day".

Tips

culture

七曜 (the seven luminaries) were the sun, moon and five visible planets in old astronomy. This naming system passed into Japanese, where the weekday names still end in 曜日 (曜日).

Components

radical

日 rì

sun

日 is the sun radical, placing this character among words about light and the heavenly bodies, fitting for 'bright' and 'celestial luminary'.

phonetic

翟 dí

long-tailed pheasant; phonetic

翟 supplies the sound (drifting to yào). It pictures a bright-plumed pheasant, which loosely echoes the dazzling, shining sense of the whole character.

Stroke Order

曜 yào

曜