谜 (mí): riddle

Measure Word

一个谜 gè

Meanings

1 riddle
2 puzzle
3 mystery

Examples

这至今仍是一个谜。

Zhè zhìjīn réng shì yígè mí.

This remains a mystery to this day.

你能猜出这个谜吗？

Nǐ néng cāi chū zhège mí ma?

Can you solve this riddle?

Tips

memory

谜 contains 言 (speech) + 迷 (lost) — words that leave you lost, i.e., a riddle or mystery.

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech (left-side radical)

Two-stroke speech radical on the left — the simplified side-form of 言. A 谜 (riddle) is a verbal puzzle, so the radical pins the meaning to spoken language. Same radical anchors 说, 话, 请, 谢 — the family of speaking and meaning-making. Riddles live in the world of words.

phonetic

迷 mí

confused; lost

Right side 迷 supplies both sound (mí, exact match) and a strong semantic hint. 迷 itself means 'lost, bewildered' (rice 米 scattering on a path 辶), so the compound is 'words that confuse' — a riddle. One of the rare cases where phonetic and meaning align almost perfectly.