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鳌

鰲
áo
noun #70,308

Meanings

  1. 1 a giant mythical sea turtle

Examples

传说巨鳌背着仙山。
Chuánshuō jù áo bèi zhe xiānshān.
Legend says a giant sea turtle carries the immortals' mountain on its back.
科举夺魁叫独占鳌头。
Kējǔ duókuí jiào dúzhàn'áotóu.
Coming first in the imperial exam was called 'standing on the turtle's head'.

Tips

culture
Best known in 独占鳌头 — 'to stand alone on the sea-turtle's head' — meaning to take first place. It comes from the carved turtle's head on the palace steps where the top exam graduate stood.

Components

radical
鱼 yú
fish; sea creature
Bottom fish radical 鱼. It marks aquatic creatures; here it tags the mythical turtle as a giant sea animal.
phonetic
敖 áo
to ramble; (here) sound
Top part 敖 supplies the sound áo; it is the phonetic in a whole family including 熬 and 傲.

Stroke Order

鳌 áo