() — five

Definition

Examples

  • Wǒ yǒu wǔ gè péng you.
    I have five friends.
  • Tā kàn le wǔ běn shū.
    He read five books.
  • Wǒ men mǎi le wǔ gè píng guǒ.
    We bought five apples.

Origin

Pictograph
六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíng

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.

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