méi
noun #26,788

Meanings

  1. 1 fine jade
  2. 2 (used in 玫瑰 rose)

Examples

Méi zhège zì chángyòng zài méiguī zhège cí lǐ.
The character 玫 is commonly used in the word 玫瑰 (rose).
Méiguī shì àiqíng de xiàngzhēng.
Roses are a symbol of love.

Tips

usage
on its own means fine jade and rarely appears independently. In modern Chinese, it is almost exclusively encountered as the first character of 玫瑰 (méiguī), meaning rose.

Components

radical
wáng
jade (radical form of 玉)
Left-side jade radical — the left-position form of , the dot omitted to fit the slot. It is the indexing radical for the gem family: jade, pearl, precious, fine jade. In it names a kind of fine reddish jade, the original meaning before the character was repurposed inside 玫瑰 to spell 'rose'.
phonetic
tap; strike (radical form of 攴)
Right side supplies the sound — pū drifting to méi through an old labial m/p alternation. Visually identical to the rap radical, but here it plays a purely phonetic role: names a jade, not anything struck. The same phonetic shape appears in government and reason, both pronounced very differently.

Stroke Order

méi