魔 (mó) · demon, devil, magic

Meanings

1 demon
2 devil
3 magic
4 evil

Characters

魔

mó

demon, magic

Examples

HSK 4

他是一个魔法师。

Tā shì yígè mófǎ shī.

He is a wizard.

HSK 5

这个游戏里有很多魔怪。

Zhège yóuxì lǐ yǒu hěnduō móguài.

There are many monsters in this game.

HSK 7-9

她被恶魔附身了。

Tā bèi èmó fù shēn le.

She was possessed by a demon.

Tips

usage

魔 appears in many compounds: 魔法 (magic), 恶魔 (demon), 魔鬼 (devil), 魔术 (magic tricks), 魔王 (demon king). It can mean supernatural evil or magical power.

history

魔 was borrowed from Sanskrit 'māra' (the demon who tried to tempt Buddha). The character combines 麻 (hemp, used for sound) and 鬼 (ghost).

Components

radical

鬼 guǐ

ghost; spirit

Bottom-right 鬼 - also 魔's indexing radical (Kangxi #194). Direct semantic anchor: a 魔 is a demon or evil spirit, a more sinister cousin of 鬼. From the literal demon came all the modern senses 'magic, devil, fiend, evil' (魔术 magic-trick, 恶魔 demon, 魔鬼 devil). Same indexing radical in 魂, 魄, 魅.

phonetic

麻 má

hemp; numb

Top-and-left 麻 supplies the sound: má → mó with vowel shift. 麻 itself depicts hemp fibres being stripped under a 广 shelter; here the role is primarily phonetic, but a faint semantic link survives - hemp was used in shamanic rituals for its psychoactive smoke, fitting the 'demon, magic' theme. Same phonetic in 摩, 磨, 嘛, 蘑.