皎 (jiǎo) · bright (esp. of moonlight), white and clear

Meanings

1 bright (esp. of moonlight)
2 white and clear

Characters

皎

jiǎo

bright; white moonlight

Examples

HSK 6

今晚的月光格外皎洁。

Jīnwǎn de yuèguāng géwài jiǎo jié.

The moon tonight is especially bright and clear.

HSK 7-9

皎月之下，整个村子亮如白昼。

Jiǎo yuè zhī xià, zhěnggè cūnzi liàng rú báizhòu.

Under the bright moon, the whole village looked like daytime.

Tips

usage

皎 is almost always paired with moonlight. The set word 皎洁 (bright and pure) is how you will usually meet it; it rarely stands alone in modern speech.

Components

semantic

白 bái

white; bright

The white-and-bright sense lives here. 皎 narrows generic whiteness down to the cold clear glow of moonlight, so the white radical carries the core meaning.

phonetic

交 jiāo

cross; hand over

Supplies the sound: jiāo shifted to jiǎo. It contributes no meaning here, only the reading, and links 皎 to other 交-phonetic characters like 较 and 校.

Stroke Order

皎 jiǎo

Related Words

皎皎河汉女 jiǎojiǎo Héhàn nǚ

bright and shining, the Milky Way maid / (fig.) the Weaving Maid star, gleaming across the river of heaven, the Weaver half of the Weaver-and-Cowherd myth / (lit.) bright-bright Han-River maid

皎皎 jiǎojiǎo

bright and clear / luminous (especially of the moon) / pure white / spotless

皎洁 jiǎojié #34,895

bright and clear (especially of moonlight) / shining clean / luminous

澄清 chéngqīng HSK 7-9 #6,909

to clarify / to clear up (misunderstanding) / clear (of liquid)

避开 bìkāi #4,764

to avoid / to steer clear of / to get out of the way

光明 guāngmíng HSK 5 #4,099

bright / light / promising

干脆 gāncuì HSK 6 #3,559

straightforward; decisive / clear-cut; direct / simply; just (might as well)

斗 dǒu #2,761

dipper; ladle (esp. long-handled grain measure) / decaliter; peck (dry measure, ten 升) / cup-shaped or dipper-shaped object / the Big Dipper

白色 báisè HSK 2 #2,653

white (color)

表明 biǎomíng HSK 5 #2,323

to make clear; to indicate / to show; to demonstrate