母 (mǔ): mother, elderly female relative, origin
母 (mǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “mother.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 毋 (do not). It ranks #565 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 母 a mother's breasts. Its radical form 毋 (do not) appears in many related characters such as 每 (měi, each), 毒 (dú, poison).
Definitions
- mother
- elderly female relative
- origin
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA mother's breasts
Stroke Order
Practice writing 母 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 母
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 母亲noun | mǔ qīn | mother | 4 |
| 父母noun | fù mǔ | father and mother | 4 |
| 字母noun | zì mǔ | letter (of the alphabet) | 5 |
| 母女noun | mǔ nǚ | mother and daughter | 4 |
| 母子noun | mǔ zǐ | mother and child | 4 |
| 母语noun | mǔ yǔ | native language | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祖母noun | zǔ mǔ | father's mother |
| 圣母noun | shèng mǔ | goddess |
| 继母noun | jì mǔ | stepmother |
| 生母noun | shēng mǔ | natural mother |
| 祖父母noun | zǔ fù mǔ | paternal grandparents |
| 水母noun | shuǐ mǔ | jellyfish |
| 母亲节 | mǔ qīn jié | Mother's Day |
| 母鸡noun | mǔ jī | hen |
| 岳母noun | yuè mǔ | wife's mother, mother-in-law |
| 母体noun | mǔ tǐ | (zoology, medicine) mother's body |
| 母乳noun | mǔ rǔ | breast milk |
| 老母 | lǎo mǔ | (coll.) mother |
| 字母表 | zì mǔ biǎo | alphabet |
| 父母亲noun | fù mǔ qīn | parents |
| 伯母noun | bó mǔ | wife of father's elder brother |
母 appears in 101 compound words: 39 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 4 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 母 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
a Good Wife, Wise Mother; the ideal role for a woman in the traditional Chinese society
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 母.
Example Sentences
母字由5笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
mǔ zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "母" consists of five strokes and has a very clever structure.
NBA/字母哥招募布克!引用电影片段:穿一样的球衣我...
N B A zì mǔ gē zhāo mù bù kè ! yǐn yòng diàn yǐng piàn duàn : chuān yī yàng de qiú yī wǒ . . .
NBA/Antetokounmpo recruits Booker! Quote from the movie: Wearing the same jersey I...
把甩炮当糖果!母亲才转身几秒 广东女童“口中冒火烟”爆哭
bǎ shuǎi pào dāng táng guǒ ! mǔ qīn cái zhuǎn shēn jī miǎo guǎng dōng nǚ tóng kǒu zhōng mào huǒ yān bào kū
Throw the cannon as candy! The mother turned around for a few seconds, and the Guangdong girl burst into tears with "fire and smoke coming out of her mouth"
年节热闹散去43人团圆剩祖母身影 中国女子感慨:热闹过后难免孤寂
nián jié rè nào sàn qù 4 3 rén tuán yuán shèng zǔ mǔ shēn yǐng zhōng guó nǚ zǐ gǎn kǎi : rè nào guò hòu nán miǎn gū jì
The excitement of the New Year dispersed, and 43 people reunited with their grandmother, and the Chinese woman sighed: After the excitement, loneliness is inevitable
...千万人围观 6岁潮男Chok样曝光获赞“母胎帅哥”
. . . qiān wàn rén wéi guàn 6 suì cháo nán C h o k yàng pù guāng huò zàn mǔ tāi shuài gē
... Tens of millions of people watched the 6-year-old trendy boy Chok was exposed and praised as a "handsome guy in the mother and fetus"
小江蕙81岁母亲初二离世!陈思安忍3天痛揭噩耗:爸妈天...
xiǎo jiāng 蕙 8 1 suì mǔ qīn chū èr lí shì ! chén sī ān rěn 3 tiān tòng jiē è hào : bà mā tiān . . .
Xiao Jianghui's 81-year-old mother passed away on the second day of junior high school! Chen Si'an endured for 3 days to reveal the bad news: Mom and Dad...
你知道任何关于汤姆父母的事吗？
Nǐ zhīdào rènhé guānyú Tāngmǔ fùmǔ de shì ma?
Do you know anything about Tom's parents?
你们是汤姆的父母，对吧？
Nǐmen shì Tāngmǔ de fùmǔ, duì ba?
You're Tom's parents, aren't you?
汤姆还在依赖他父母吗?
Tāngmǔ hái zài yīlài tā fùmǔ ma?
Does Tom still rely on his parents?
她母亲将继续工作。
Tā mǔqīn jiāng jìxù gōngzuò.
Her mother will continue to work.
Character Family
毋 Radical Family — Characters sharing the do not radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 母 (mǔ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 母 and 男?
How many strokes does 母 have?
What is the radical of 母?
What are common words containing 母?
What characters sound the same as 母 (mǔ)?
Is 母 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 母 with real-time feedback
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