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望

wàng
verb HSK 7-9 #4,651

Meanings

  1. 1 to hope; to expect
  2. 2 to gaze into the distance
  3. 3 reputation; prestige

Examples

我希望你能来。
Wǒ xīwàng nǐ néng lái.
I hope you can come.
他望着远方。
Tā wàng zhe yuǎnfāng.
He gazed into the distance.

Tips

usage
望 is found in 希望 (xīwàng, to hope), 失望 (shīwàng, disappointed), 望远镜 (wàngyuǎnjìng, telescope), and 愿望 (yuànwàng, wish).

Components

radical
月 yuè
moon
Top-right 月 (moon) — the indexing radical. Gazing at the full moon was the prototypical act of 望; the lunar 15th day is still called 望日 (full moon day). The moon-radical pulls the character into the visible-distance family alongside 朝 (morning), 朗 (bright).
phonetic
亡 wáng
to flee; to lose
Top-left 亡 — supplies the sound (wáng → wàng, just a tone shift). In oracle bone forms 望 showed a person craning to see, with 亡 added later as a phonetic marker. Phonetic family: 忘 (forget), 妄 (presumptuous), 茫 (vast), 盲 (blind) — all wáng/máng-related.
semantic
王 wáng
person standing on earth (here graphic)
Bottom 王 — historically [archaic glyph] (a person standing on a mound, a 王-like shape that is technically distinct from king-王 but fully merged in modern type). Pictures the human gazing upward or outward, anchoring the act of looking and hoping. Full reading: a person stands, watching the moon, hoping it returns.

Stroke Order

望 wàng