兽王 (shòu wáng) — king of the beasts; lion

Definition

A literary title for the lion as 'king of all beasts' (百兽之王) — used in storytelling, idioms, and prose rather than everyday speech. Functionally equivalent to 狮子; this is a poetic epithet, not a separate species.

noun
king of the beastslion
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 兽王。
    Shī zi bèi chēng wéi shòu wáng.
    The lion is called the king of the beasts.
  • 兽王。
    Zhè bù jì lù piàn jiǎng shù le shòu wáng de gù shi.
    This documentary tells the story of the king of the beasts.
  • ，兽王。
    Zài sēn lín lǐ, shòu wáng shì bǎi shòu zhī wáng.
    In the forest, the lion is the king of all animals.

Origin

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.

兽shòubeast
王wángking

兽 'beast' and 王 'king' combine to mean the ruler of animals.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 獸; 兽 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 獸 combines 單 (hunting weapon) and 犬 (dog) to show hunting; the simplified 兽 is a shorthand.

Open 兽 →

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

The shape of 王 comes from a picture of a ritual axe, an object kept near a throne and connected with royal power.

Open 王 →

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