金 (jīn) — gold (metal); golden (color; precious); money; cash; wealth (in compound words)
Definition
金 (jīn) is a bound morpheme — almost never used alone. It means 'gold' (the metal/color) or 'money', and appears mainly in compounds like 金子, 黄金, 金融.
bound form
gold (metal)golden (color; precious)moneycashwealth (in compound words)
Easily confused
- 今jīnsound-alike(bound form) today; the present; now (used only in compounds)
- 禁jīnsound-alikeendure; stand
- 筋jīnsound-aliketendon; sinew
- 津jīnsound-alikeferry crossing; ford (literary)
- 巾jīnsound-alike(bound form) cloth for a specific purpose (e.g., towel, scarf)
- 斤jīnsound-alike(classifier) Chinese unit of weight, equal to 500 g in mainland China (regional variations exist)
Examples
- 金。Tā dài le yì tiáo jīn xiàng liàn.She wore a gold necklace.
- 。Zhè kuǎn shǒu jī yǒu jīn sè hé hēi sè liǎng zhǒng.This phone comes in gold and black.
- 金79。jīn Shì huà xué yuán sù zhōu qī biǎo shàng de dì 79 hào yuán sù.Gold is the 79th element on the periodic table.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.
Appears in
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