五月 (wǔ yuè) — May (the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar)…

Definition

noun

May (the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar)the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar

五月。
wǔ yuè Shì chūn tiān de shí hou.
May is the time of spring.
五月。
Nóng lì wǔ yuè chū wǔ shì duān wǔ jié.
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival.
五月。
Wǒ wǔ yuè yào qù běi jīng.
I'm going to Beijing in May.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

五 gives fifth and 月 gives month, so the word names May or the fifth lunar month.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

Appears in