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 3
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
(metal) + (finish) - ancient mirrors were polished metal

Components

radical
jīn
metal radical
Left radical is the simplified left-side form of (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 with the whole metal family: (silver), (copper), (iron), (lock), (pot).
phonetic
jìng
finally; complete
Right phonetic supplies the sound - jìng matches directly with no shift. 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 (jìng, boundary) and (jìng, jade brilliance) - all sharing the jìng rime.

Stroke Order

jìng