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象

xiàng
noun #647

Meanings

  1. 1 elephant
  2. 2 shape; form; appearance
  3. 3 to resemble; to be like

Examples

大象是最大的陆地动物。
Dàxiàng shì zuì dà de lùdì dòngwù.
Elephants are the largest land animals.
他给我留下了很好的印象。
Tā gěi wǒ liúxià le hěn hǎode yìnxiàng.
He left a very good impression on me.
你能想象吗？
Nǐ néng xiǎngxiàng ma?
Can you imagine?

Tips

usage
象 is used in: 大象 (elephant), 印象 (impression), 想象 (imagine), 现象 (phenomenon), 象棋 (Chinese chess). Don't confuse with 像 (xiàng, to resemble/portrait).

Components

radical
豕 shǐ
pig (radical form for hoofed mammals)
Bottom 6 strokes — the pig radical (Kangxi #152), but historically the body-and-legs of the elephant itself; one stroke is contracted versus the standalone 豕. Indexes 象 in the four-legged-mammal family alongside 豪 (great pig), 豹 (leopard), 家 (pig under roof = home). The elephant and pig share the same radical because both are heavy-bodied four-leggers.
semantic
⺈ dāo
knife-shape (here: elephant's trunk and head)
Top two strokes — graphically the ⺈ knife-radical shape, but in 象 these depict the elephant's curling trunk and forehead. The original oracle-bone form drew the trunk arching up; the modern stroke pair preserves that silhouette. Read this slot as the head-and-trunk of the animal, not as 'knife.'
semantic
口 kǒu
mouth (here: elephant's eye / cheek)
Middle 3 strokes — graphically 口 (mouth), but historically the eye or jowl beneath the trunk. Sits between trunk above and body below as the face area of the elephant. Pure graphic residue; do not read as a literal mouth.

Stroke Order

象 xiàng