镜

鏡
jìng
noun #2,503

Meanings

  1. 1 mirror
  2. 2 lens

Examples

HSK 3
Tā měitiān zǎoshang zhào jìngzi.
She looks at herself in the mirror every morning.
HSK 5
Dǎoyǎn tiáozhěng le jìngtóu.
The director adjusted the camera lens.
HSK 6
Wǒ méiyǒu yǎnjìng kàn bù qīng zì.
I can't read without my glasses.

Tips

history
钅 (metal) + 竟 (finish) - ancient mirrors were polished metal

Components

radical
钅 jīn
metal radical
Left radical 钅 is the simplified left-side form of 金 (metal/gold), used in metallurgical chars. Bronze mirrors were the standard mirrors of ancient China - polished metal discs reflecting the viewer. The metal radical groups 镜 with the whole metal family: 银 (silver), 铜 (copper), 铁 (iron), 锁 (lock), 锅 (pot).
phonetic
竟 jìng
finally; complete
Right phonetic 竟 supplies the sound - jìng matches directly with no shift. 竟 itself means 'to finish, end up', and carries faint semantic flavour: a mirror is the 'completion' of a polished disc, where you see the final reflection. Same phonetic in 境 (jìng, boundary) and 璄 (jìng, jade brilliance) - all sharing the jìng rime.

Stroke Order

镜 jìng