翁 (wēng): elderly man, father, father-in-law
翁 (wēng) is a Chinese character meaning “elderly man.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 公 (phonetic) and 羽 (semantic). It ranks #2075 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 翁 feather. Its radical form 羽 (feather) appears in many related characters such as 翻 (fān, to turn over), 羽 (yǔ, feather), 耀 (yào, brilliant).
Definitions
- elderly man
- father
- father-in-law
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 翁 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 富翁noun | fù wēng | rich person |
| 百万富翁noun | bǎi wàn fù wēng | millionaire |
| 信天翁noun | xìn tiān wēng | albatross (family Diomedeidae) |
| 不倒翁noun | bù dǎo wēng | roly-poly toy |
| 莎翁proper-noun | shā wēng | Shakespeare |
| 主人翁noun | zhǔ rén wēng | master (of the house) |
| 白头翁noun | bái tóu wēng | root of Chinese pulsatilla |
| 塞翁失马安知非福 | sài wēng shī mǎ ān zhī fēi fú | the old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best (idiom) |
| 醉翁之意不在酒phrase | zuì wēng zhī yì bù zài jiǔ | wine-lover's heart is not in the cup (idiom) |
| 卡斯特利翁 | kǎ sī tè lì wēng | Castellón |
| 黑背信天翁 | hēi bèi xìn tiān wēng | (bird species of China) Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) |
| 黑脚信天翁 | hēi jiǎo xìn tiān wēng | (bird species of China) black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) |
| 塞翁失马焉知非福 | sài wēng shī mǎ yān zhī fēi fú | the old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best (idiom) |
| 短尾信天翁 | duǎn wěi xìn tiān wēng | (bird species of China) short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) |
| 塞翁失马phrase | sài wēng shī mǎ | lit. the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best (idiom) |
翁 appears in 36 compound words: 25 as the first character, 58 as the last, and 17 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 翁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
这个翁字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě wēng zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of the character "翁" is related to its radical.
警茘景邨打击街头赌博 拘控3老翁均年逾八旬
jǐng 茘 jǐng 邨 dǎ jī jiē tóu dǔ bó jū kòng 3 lǎo wēng jūn nián yú bā xún
Police crack down on street gambling in Cheng Jing Estate and arrest 3 old men, all over eighty years old
参院过关再战众院 华州百万富翁税争议不断
cān yuàn guò guān zài zhàn zhòng yuàn huá zhōu bǎi wàn fù wēng shuì zhēng yì bù duàn
The Senate passed and fought again in the House of Representatives, and the millionaire tax in Washington continued
川普国情咨文 翁履中提5大观察指标:台湾应盯紧“这点”
chuān pǔ guó qíng zī wén wēng lǚ zhōng tí 5 dà guàn chá zhǐ biāo : tái wān yīng dīng jǐn zhè diǎn
Trump's State of the Union Address Weng Luzhong mentioned 5 major observation indicators: Taiwan should keep an eye on "this"
医起看/老翁处理海鲜感染海洋弧菌 截肢保住一命
yī qǐ kàn lǎo wēng chǔ lǐ hǎi xiān gǎn rǎn hǎi yáng hú jūn jié zhī bǎo zhù yī mìng
The old man treated seafood infected with Vibrio marine and amputated his limb to save his life
食八宝饭误吞枣核 62岁翁肚大如孕妇
shí bā bǎo fàn wù tūn zǎo hé 6 2 suì wēng dù dà rú yùn fù
Eating eight treasure rice and mistakenly swallowing jujube kernels, the 62-year-old man's belly is as big as a pregnant woman
她凭着努力和生意头脑成了富翁。
Tā píng zhe nǔlì hé shēngyi tóunǎo chéngle fùwēng.
She became rich by virtue of hard work and good business sense.
我想做一个百万富翁。
Wǒ xiǎng zuò yī gè bǎiwànfùwēng.
I'd like to be a millionaire.
大富翁是一个家庭玩的热门游戏。
Dàfùwēng shì yī gè jiātíng wán de rèmén yóuxì.
Monopoly is a popular game for families to play.
埃翁多语是客麦隆埃翁多部落所说的语言。
āi wēng duō yǔ shì kè mài lōng āi wēng duō bùluò suǒ shuō de yǔyán.
Ewondo is the language spoken by the Ewondo tribe of Cameroon.
Character Family
羽 Radical Family — Characters sharing the feather radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 翁 (wēng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 翁 and 松?
How many strokes does 翁 have?
What is the radical of 翁?
What are the components of 翁?
What are common words containing 翁?
Is 翁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 翁 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.