美 měi — beautiful · English

美

měi

beautiful

At a glance · 美

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

「美」甲骨文从羊从大，象人戴羊角或羊大则美，金文小篆承之。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

「美」本义为甘美、美好，引申美丽、赞美。

Structure

从羊、从大，会意字，羊大肥美或人饰羊首为美。

At a glance

Pinyinměi

Radical八

Strokes9

UnicodeU+7F8E

Character type会意

Theme德行

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English beautiful beautiful, pretty; pleasing

Français beau / bon Beau, bon. «笃初诚美» : bon et beau.

Español bello / bueno Bello, bueno. «笃初诚美»: bueno y bello.

العربية جميل / جيد جميل، جيد. «笃初诚美»: حسن وجميل.

Русский красивый / хороший Красивый, хороший. «笃初诚美»: хороший и прекрасный.

Common words

美丽měi lìbeautiful
美好měi hǎogood

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