武 (wǔ): martial, military
武 (wǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “martial.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural), 弋 (structural) and 止 (structural). It ranks #501 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 武 to stop someone 止 with an arrow 弋. Its radical form 止 (stop) appears in many related characters such as 正 (zhèng, straight), 止 (zhǐ, to stop), 此 (cǐ, this).
Definitions
- martial
- military
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo stop someone 止 with an arrow 弋
Decomposition: ⿸一⿹弋止 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 武 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 武
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 武装noun | wǔ zhuāng | arms |
| 武士noun | wǔ shì | warrior |
| 核武器noun | hé wǔ qì | nuclear weapon |
| 武力noun | wǔ lì | military force |
| 比武verb | bǐ wǔ | martial arts competition |
| 武林proper-noun | wǔ lín | martial arts (social) circles |
| 修武proper-noun | xiū wǔ | see 修武縣|修武县 |
| 化学武器 | huà xué wǔ qì | chemical weapon |
| 武断adjective | wǔ duàn | arbitrary |
| 武田 | wǔ tián | Takeda (Japanese surname) |
| 武功noun | wǔ gōng | martial art |
| 武馆noun | wǔ guǎn | martial arts school |
| 核武noun | hé wǔ | nuclear weapon |
| 武士道 | wǔ shì dào | bushidō or way of the warrior, samurai code of chivalry |
| 武艺noun | wǔ yì | martial art |
武 appears in 105 compound words: 60 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 10 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 武 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (19)
Showing 12 of 19 idioms containing 武.
Example Sentences
这个武字的意思与它的部首有关。
zhè gě wǔ zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .
The meaning of the character "武" is related to its radical.
中国武侠MMORPG‘新・天上碑’二次神器装备...
zhōng guó wǔ xiá M M O R P G xīn tiān shàng bēi èr cì shén qì zhuāng bèi . . .
Chinese martial arts MMORPG 'New Heavenly Monument' secondary artifact equipment...
首相考虑解冻军队采购资金 确保武装部队行动不受影响
shǒu xiāng kǎo lǜ jiě dòng jūn duì cǎi gòu zī jīn què bǎo wǔ zhuāng bù duì háng dòng bù shòu yǐng xiǎng
The prime minister considered unfreezing military procurement funds to ensure that armed forces operations were not affected
...战战舰拚火力 最“对称”也最“男子汉”的武器?
. . . zhàn zhàn jiàn 拚 huǒ lì zuì duì chèn yě zuì nán zǐ hàn de wǔ qì ?
... The most "symmetrical" and most "manly" weapon of the battleship?
文攻武吓 纽时:川普拟分2阶段攻伊朗
wén gōng wǔ hè niǔ shí : chuān pǔ nǐ fēn 2 jiē duàn gōng yī lǎng
Cultural attack and military intimidation New York Times: Trump plans to attack Iran in two stages
伊朗武装部队总参谋长:敌人试图以“战略消耗”动...
yī lǎng wǔ zhuāng bù duì zǒng cān móu cháng : dí rén shì tú yǐ zhàn lüè xiāo hào dòng . . .
Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces: The enemy is trying to move with "strategic attrition"...
他的武功已经达到了出神入化的境界。
Tā de wǔgōng yǐjīng dádào le chūshénrùhuà de jìngjiè.
His martial arts prowess has already reached a level of sublime perfection.
熟练的士兵知道怎么以他们的环境为武器。
Shúliàn dīshì bīng zhīdào zěnme yǐ tāmen de huánjìng wèi wǔqì.
Skilled soldiers know how to use their environment as a weapon.
携带武器是违法的。
Xiédài wǔqì shì wéifǎ de.
It's against the law to carry weapons.
他们用枪武装自己。
Tāmen yòng qiāng wǔzhuāng zìjǐ.
They armed themselves with guns.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 武 (wǔ) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 武 have?
What is the radical of 武?
What are the components of 武?
What are common words containing 武?
What characters sound the same as 武 (wǔ)?
Is 武 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 武 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.