mín
noun #20,922

Meanings

  1. 1 jade-like stone
  2. 2 alabaster
  3. 3 (used in personal names)

Examples

Mín shí de wàiguān yǔ yù xiāngsì, dàn jiàzhí jiào dī.
Jade-like stone (min) resembles jade in appearance but is of lower value.
Tā de míngzi lǐ yǒu yī gè mín zì.
Her name contains the character 珉.

Tips

usage
is a classical term for a stone that resembles jade but is not true jade. It is rarely used in modern everyday speech and appears mainly in names and literary or historical contexts. The jade radical () in indicates its connection to precious stones.

Components

radical
wáng
jade (radical form of 玉)
Four-stroke jade radical on the left, side form of (lower dot dropped in compounds). names a stone resembling jade but of lesser quality - a green or white mineral once worn in place of true jade. Groups with agate, coral, precious, jade disc.
phonetic
mín
people; populace
Right side supplies the sound - mín read straight across. Pure phonetic role. Same phonetic drives a Sichuan mountain, to press lips, to vanish - all keeping the mín reading. is the kind of stone the common people might wear in place of jade.

Stroke Order

mín