嗡 (wēng) — (onomatopoeia) buzz; drone; hum

Definition

An onomatopoeia imitating a buzzing or humming sound — bees, machines, air conditioners. Often reduplicated as 嗡嗡 to suggest a continuous sound.

onomatopoeia

buzzdronehum

Easily confused

嗡。
Wǒ tīng dào yì zhī mì fēng zài ěr biān wēng le yī shēng.
I heard a bee buzzing by my ear.
嗡。
Jī qì wēng le yī shēng jiù tíng le.
The machine hummed once and then stopped.
，嗡。
Wǒ guān diào kōng tiáo, wēng de shēng yīn yě xiāo shī le.
I turned off the air conditioner, and the humming sound disappeared too.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口翁嗡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

翁

Same sound today

嗡 shows 口 (mouth) next to 翁, which gives the sound wēng.