妖 (yāo) — (bound form) evil spirit; demon; monster; (bound form) eerie; weird; seductive
Definition
妖 (yāo) is a bound morpheme for supernatural creatures (妖怪, 妖精) — always paired with a partner, never used alone. It also carries a meaning of eerie or bewitching attractiveness (妖艳).
bound form
evil spiritdemonmonstereerieweirdseductive
Easily confused
- 跃yuèlook-aliketo leap; to jump (bound form, used in compounds)
- 腰yāosound-alikewaist, lower back
- 袄ǎolook-alikeshort Chinese-style coat or jacket
- 邀yāosound-aliketo invite
- 沃wòlook-alike(bound form) fertile, rich (in 肥沃, 沃土, 沃野)
- 幺yāosound-alike(colloquial) one (used in place of yī for telephone numbers, serial numbers, etc.)
Examples
- 。Hěn duō zhōng guó shén huà lǐ dōu yǒu yāo guài.Many Chinese myths have monsters.
- ，。Tā cháng dé fēi cháng yāo yàn, dà jiā dōu kàn tā.She looks very seductive; everyone stares at her.
- 。Nà jiān lǎo fáng zi ràng rén jué de yāo qì hěn zhòng.That old house gives an eerie feeling.
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.
妖 is built from 女 (woman) and 夭; the 女 part relates to the meaning, while 夭 gives the sound.
Appears in
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