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众

眾
zhòng
noun #4,368

Meanings

  1. 1 crowd; multitude
  2. 2 the masses; the public
  3. 3 many; numerous

Examples

观众很多。
Guānzhòng hěnduō.
There is a large audience.
大众喜欢这个产品。
Dàzhòng xǐhuan zhège chǎnpǐn.
The public likes this product.
众所周知。
Zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī.
As everyone knows.

Tips

usage
众 appears in: 观众 (audience), 群众 (the masses), 大众 (the public), 众多 (numerous), 听众 (listeners). The simplified character 众 shows three 人 (people) stacked — literally 'many people.'

Components

radical
人 rén
person
Top 人 — also 众's indexing radical (Kangxi #9). One person standing alone above the pair below. The compound ideograph reads as a small crowd: three figures together. 众 was simplified from traditional 眾 (which had 目 'eye' on top); the modern form replaces the eye with a third 人, making the 'three-equal-people' pattern fully transparent.
semantic
人 rén
person
Bottom-left 人 — paired with the 人 on the bottom-right, forming the lower row of the crowd. Same character as the top, in a slightly compressed shape to fit beside its partner. Three people together is the classical visual shorthand for 'many, the crowd.'
semantic
人 rén
person
Bottom-right 人 — completing the trio. The reduplication makes 众 a textbook compound ideograph (会意字): three same components stacked = 'a multitude.' Same triple-stacking pattern in 森 (three trees = forest) and 晶 (three suns = bright).

Stroke Order

众 zhòng