网 (wǎng): net; web

Meanings

1 net; web
2 network; internet

Characters

网

wǎng

net; web; network

The character is a pictograph of a net.

Examples

今天网不好用。

Jīntiān wǎng bù hǎoyòng.

The internet is not working well today.

鱼被网住了。

Yú bèi wǎng zhù le.

The fish was caught in the net.

Tips

usage

网 is the foundation of many modern terms: 上网 (go online), 网上 (online), 网站 (website), 网友 (online friend), 网红 (internet celebrity), 网购 (online shopping), 网吧 (internet cafe).

Components

pictograph

网 wǎng

net; network

Pictograph of a fishing or hunting net stretched between two posts — the outer 冂 frame is the wooden frame and the inner 乂 strokes are the knotted mesh. 网 is itself Kangxi radical 122 and now also means 'internet' in modern Chinese (互联网 the Internet).

Radical

Net Kangxi #122

Productive — but inside compounds it almost never keeps the full 网 shape. The flattened top variant 罒 (网字头, 'horizontal eye') drives the everyday characters: 罗 (gauze), 罚 (punish), 罪 (crime), 置 (place), 署 (office), 罢 (cease). The shorter 罓 variant survives in a handful of forms. Strong meaning clue: trapping, snaring, cataloguing, regulating.