木棒 (mù bàng) — wooden stick, club, bat

Definition

noun
wooden stickclubbat
Measure word · 根

Examples

  • 木棒。
    Tā shǒu lǐ ná zhe yì gēn mù bàng.
    He is holding a wooden stick in his hand.
  • 木棒。
    Tā yòng mù bàng dǎ le yí xià zhuō zi.
    He hit the table with the wooden stick.
  • 木棒。
    Zhè gēn mù bàng hěn jiē shi.
    This wooden stick is very sturdy.

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.

木mùwood
棒bàngstick

木 means wood and 棒 means stick, so together they describe a stick made of wood.

Characters in this word

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

Open 木 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree, wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
奉
奉fèng棒bàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

棒 combines 木 (wood) with 奉, which gives the sound, to write a wooden club.

Open 棒 →
Appears in
Miscellaneous Objects

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