伍

wǔ
noun #13,319

Meanings

  1. 1 five (banker's anti-fraud form)
  2. 2 squad; team; company

Examples

HSK 4
Duìwu hěn cháng.
The line / team is very long.
HSK 6
Rùwǔ dāngbīng.
To enlist in the army.

Tips

usage
队伍 = team / ranks / line is the most common usage.

Components

radical
亻 rén
person (radical form of 人)
Two-stroke person radical on the left, side form of 人. 伍 originally named a five-person squad in the Zhou military, then generalized to any group, company, or rank. Groups with 仆 servant, 伙 group, 伴 partner, 侣 companion - chars about who one stands with.
phonetic
五 wǔ
five (phonetic and semantic)
Right side 五 supplies the sound - wǔ read straight across. 五 also doubles as semantic: a 伍 is literally a unit of five soldiers, the basic squad size in classical Chinese armies. 伍 also serves as the formal accounting form of 五 on bank cheques.

Stroke Order

伍 wǔ