The Chinese character 虫
And its meaning component forms
虫
chóng
- lower form of animal life (insects; worms; reptiles)
- person with a particular undesirable characteristic
The Chinese character 虫 represents all kinds of lower form of animal life whether it’s an insect, a worm, a reptile, or a similar creature. A single character for so many animals, amazing!
虫 is both a character and a character component
虫 can be used as a meaning component in a Chinese character. It then appears in its simple form: 虫. You’ll find 虫 in characters and words related directly or indirectly to insects and reptiles
These characters all contain 虫 and have a direct link with insects and reptiles:
The character component 虫 can also be found in words that are related with its second meaning: a person’s undesirable characteristics.
The meaning component 虫 can be found in Chinese characters and words that are related to insects and reptiles, following the character’s first meaning. You can also find the meaning component 虫 in characters that are related to its second meaning: “a person with a particular undesirable characteristic”.
Chinese characters
related to
undesirable characteristics
Therefore, you’ll find the character component 虫 in words like:
蛮 mán: barbarian; bullying; reckless
独 dú: alone; independent
蠢 chǔn: stupid; clumsy
You’ll also find the meaning component 虫 in many other Chinese characters. Browse the full list here.
All 80,000+ Chinese characters share the same character components. Chinese character components are therefore essential for Chinese learners: they are the building blocks of Chinese. Chinese character components help tremendously with understanding a character: they provide information on its meaning or on its pronunciation. In short, knowing character components will help you analyse, learn and remember each Chinese character much better.
Join us on Ninchanese as we teach you everything about the Chinese character components you need to know, little by little.