xiāo
adjective #72,514

Meanings

  1. 1 brave and fierce; valiant
  2. 2 (of a horse) fine and spirited

Examples

Tā shì yí wèi xiāoyǒng shànzhàn de jiāngjūn.
He was a brave and skillful general, brilliant in battle.
Qíbīng xiāo yǒng de chōngxiàng dírén.
The cavalry charged the enemy with valiant force.

Tips

usage
Literary 'brave and fierce', most often in the set phrase 骁勇善战 ('valiant and skilled in war'). The original sense was a strong, spirited warhorse — hence the horse radical — which then transferred to the rider's courage.

Components

radical
horse
The horse radical anchors the original meaning — a strong, spirited warhorse. From a fine battle steed the sense extended to the bravery of the warrior.
phonetic
yáo
high; the sage-king Yao
Supplies the sound. Standalone reads yáo; here the reading shifts to xiāo. It is the phonetic element, carrying no meaning to the bravery sense.

Stroke Order

xiāo