铭 (míng): to engrave, inscribed motto
铭 (míng) is a Chinese character meaning “to engrave.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (structural) and 名 (structural). It ranks #2029 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 铭 to carve 钅 one's name 名; 名 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).
Definitions
- to engrave
- inscribed motto
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo carve 钅 one's name 名; 名 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰钅名 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 铭 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 铭记verb | míng jì | to engrave in one's memory |
| 座右铭noun | zuò yòu míng | motto |
| 刻骨铭心phrase | kè gǔ míng xīn | lit. carved in bones and engraved in the heart (idiom) |
| 铭牌noun | míng pái | nameplate |
| 铭刻verb | míng kè | a carved inscription |
| 铭文noun | míng wén | inscription |
| 墓志铭noun | mù zhì míng | epitaph |
| 碑铭noun | bēi míng | inscription on stone tablet |
| 铭心刻骨 | míng xīn kè gǔ | lit. etched into one's heart and bones (idiom) |
| 铭言 | míng yán | motto |
| 罗保铭 | luó bǎo míng | Luo Baoming (1952-), sixth governor of Hainan |
| 铭心镂骨 | míng xīn lòu gǔ | engraved in one's heart and carved in one's bones (idiom) |
| 铭谢 | míng xiè | to express gratitude (esp. in public) |
| 郭台铭 | guō tái míng | Guo "Terry" Taiming (1950-), prominent Taiwanese businessman, founder of Foxconn |
| 贝聿铭 | bèi yù míng | Pei Ieoh Ming or I.M. Pei (1917-2019), Chinese-American architect |
铭 appears in 19 compound words: 47 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 16 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 铭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Showing 2 of 4 idioms containing 铭.
Example Sentences
这把铭锁已经生锈了，打不开了。
zhè bǎ míng suǒ yǐ jīng shēng xiù le , dǎ bù kāi le .
This engraved lock has rusted shut and cannot be opened.
赖总统:感谢柯建铭25年来始终站在第一线 完成交棒传承致上...
lài zǒng tǒng : gǎn xiè 柯 jiàn míng 2 5 nián lái shǐ zhōng zhàn zài dì yī xiàn wán chéng jiāo bàng chuán chéng zhì shàng . . .
President Lai: Thank you Ke Jianming for always standing on the front line for 25 years and completing the handover of the baton to the inheritance...
柯建铭卸任总召!赖清德致上最高敬意:为民主留下...
柯 jiàn míng xiè rèn zǒng zhào ! lài qīng dé zhì shàng zuì gāo jìng yì : wéi mín zhǔ liú xià . . .
Ke Jianming stepped down as general summons! Lai Qingde paid the highest respect: Leave for democracy...
柯建铭万年总召卸任 10年幕僚全说了:跟助理吃...
柯 jiàn míng wàn nián zǒng zhào xiè rèn 1 0 nián mù liáo quán shuō le : gēn zhù lǐ chī . . .
Ke Jianming's 10-year general summons to step down, and the staff all said: Eat with the assistant...
【海天游踪】林铭亮/杭城别录
hǎi tiān yóu zōng lín míng liàng háng chéng bié lù
Lin Mingliang/Hangcheng Separate Record
智慧经营/华安医学总经理江铭灿 里程碑管理术 有一套
zhì huì jīng yíng huá ān yī xué zǒng jīng lǐ jiāng míng càn lǐ chéng bēi guǎn lǐ shù yǒu yī tào
Smart management/Jiang Mingcan, general manager of Huaan Medical, has a set of milestone management techniques
这件事他铭记于心。
Zhè jiàn shì tā míngjì yú xīn.
The incident was etched in his memory.
Character Family
钅 Radical Family — Characters sharing the metal radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 铭 (míng)?
Is 铭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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