皎 (jiǎo): bright (esp. of moonlight)

Meanings

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

Characters

皎

jiǎo

bright; white moonlight

Examples

今晚的月光格外皎洁。

Jīnwǎn de yuèguāng géwài jiǎo jié.

The moon tonight is especially bright and clear.

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 3 #4,099

bright / light / promising

干脆 gāncuì HSK 5 #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 (abbreviation for 北斗)

白色 báisè HSK 2 #2,653

white (color)

表明 biǎomíng HSK 3 #2,323

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