五 wǔ five; 5


Used as component 五 in :语 yǔ
Made with 4 strokes.

Originally a picture of a square with a point in the middle - making 4 points, simplified to show just part of the square

Ancient small seal form Small seal

Sounds same

午 wǔ (noon) ; 武 wǔ (martial)

Different tone

乌 wū (crow) ; 屋 wū (house) ; 无 wú (not to have) ; 勿 wù (do not) ; 戊 wù (fifth (ordinal)) ; 务 wù (affair) ; 物 wù (thing)

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Pronunciation

Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

stroke order for 五
Stroke order for character 五, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚

Proverbs

麻雀虽小,五脏俱全 má què suī xiǎo, wǔ zàng jù quán A person is a person regardless of size. Complete in every detail
五十步笑一百步 wǔ shí bù xiào yī bǎi bù Being complacent about the future. Believing a job is all but done when only half done.
三令五申 sān lìng wǔ shēn Giving order after order. Someone who is officious and over-bearing. The use of three and five is often used to give idea of endless repetition.
不为五斗米折腰 bù wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhé yāo Refusing inducements to betray a principles. Incorruptible. The story is of a man who refused to work for a corrupt and arrogant official even though he lost out on a generous salary.

Phrases

四 十 五 个 人 sì shí wǔ gè rén 45 people
五 百 五 十 三 wǔ bǎi wǔ shí sān 553
五 百 五 十 三 wǔ bǎi wǔ shí sān 553

Also

五福 wǔ fú good luck gods