乌 (wū): abbr. for country names that begin with 烏|乌: Ukraine 烏克蘭|乌克兰, Uzbekistan 烏茲別克斯坦|乌兹别克斯坦 etc, crow, black
乌 (wū) is a Chinese character meaning “crow.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丿 (structural). It ranks #1238 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 乌 simplified form of 烏; a crow; compare 鸟. Its radical form 丿 (slash) appears in many related characters such as 么 (me, suffix used in 什么 (what), 这么 (so), 怎么 (how) etc), 久 (jiǔ, (of a period of time) long), 乐 (lè, happy).
Definitions
- abbr. for country names that begin with 烏|乌: Ukraine 烏克蘭|乌克兰, Uzbekistan 烏茲別克斯坦|乌兹别克斯坦 etc
- crow
- black
Etymology & Origin
pictographicSimplified form of 烏; a crow; compare 鸟
Stroke Order
Practice writing 乌 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 乌
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 乌鸦noun | wū yā | crow |
| 乌克兰proper-noun | wū kè lán | Ukraine |
| 乌托邦noun | wū tuō bāng | (loanword) utopia |
| 乌云noun | wū yún | black cloud |
| 乌拉noun | wù la | leather shoe stuffed with Carex meyeriana 烏拉草|乌拉草, worn in northeastern China during winter |
| 乌贼noun | wū zéi | cuttlefish |
| 乌干达proper-noun | wū gān dá | Uganda |
| 乌合之众phrase | wū hé zhī zhòng | (idiom) rabble |
| 乌尔姆 | wū ěr mǔ | Ulm (city in Germany) |
| 乌尔proper-noun | wū ěr | Ur (Sumerian city c. 4500 BC in modern Iraq) |
| 乌孙国 | wū sūn guó | Wusun kingdom of central Asia (c. 300 BC-300 AD) |
| 乌龙茶noun | wū lóng chá | oolong tea |
| 乌拉圭proper-noun | wū lā guī | Uruguay |
| 乌拉尔proper-noun | wū lā ěr | the Ural mountains in Russia, dividing Europe from Asia |
| 乌黑adjective | wū hēi | jet-black |
乌 appears in 101 compound words: 85 as the first character, 9 as the last, and 6 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 乌 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
lit. the sun setting and the moon rising (idiom); fig. the passage of time
Ulanqab (a prefecture-level city of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
Ulanhot (a county-level city of Hinggan, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
everything in disorder; in a hideous mess; horribly messy; filthy; despicable; disgusting
lit. the sun setting and the moon rising (idiom); fig. the passage of time
Ulanqab (a prefecture-level city of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China)
everything in disorder; in a hideous mess; horribly messy; filthy; despicable; disgusting
Showing 9 of 11 idioms containing 乌.
Example Sentences
乌字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
wū zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "乌" has different usages in different contexts.
乌俄战争4周年前夕 泽伦斯基喊话川普:请站...
wū é zhàn zhēng 4 zhōu nián qián xī zé lún sī jī hǎn huà chuān pǔ : qǐng zhàn . . .
On the eve of the 4th anniversary of the Ukrainian-Russian War, Zelensky shouted to Trump: Please stand...
俄军打击乌能源设施 乌克兰多地大面积停电
é jūn dǎ jī wū néng yuán shè shī wū kè lán duō dì dà miàn jī tíng diàn
Russian forces hit Ukrainian energy facilities Large-scale power outages in many places in Ukraine
上水“怪兽仓”两幼犬被困笼内 一狗断尾惹乌蝇 区议员联络仓主无果报警求助
shàng shuǐ guài shòu cāng liǎng yòu quǎn bèi kùn lóng nèi yī gǒu duàn wěi rě wū yíng qū yì yuán lián lào cāng zhǔ wú guǒ bào jǐng qiú zhù
Two puppies were trapped in the cage of the "monster warehouse" in Sheung Shui, and a dog had its tail cut off and provoked flies
俄方称欧洲在乌克兰问题上更倾向于延续冲突
é fāng chèn ōu zhōu zài wū kè lán wèn tí shàng gēng qīng xiàng yú yán xù chōng tū
Russia said that Europe is more inclined to continue the conflict on the Ukraine issue
您是乌鲁木齐人吗？
Nín shì Wūlǔmùqí rén ma?
Are you from Urumqi?
你说乌克兰语或俄语吗？
Nǐ shuō Wūkèlán yǔ huò éyǔ ma?
Do you speak Ukrainian or Russian?
给我买只乌龟吧，妈妈，求你给我买只乌龟吧！
Gěi wǒ mǎi zhǐ wūguī ba, māma, qiú nǐ gěi wǒ mǎi zhǐ wūguī ba!
Buy me a turtle, Mom, please buy me a turtle!
野兔被乌龟抛了在后头。
Yětù bèi wūguī pāo le zàihòu tóu.
The hare was overtaken by the tortoise.
乌云逐渐布满了整个天空。
Wūyún zhújiàn bù mǎn le zhěnggè tiānkōng.
The sky has gradually clouded over.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 乌 (wū) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 乌 and 白?
How many strokes does 乌 have?
What is the radical of 乌?
What are the components of 乌?
What are common words containing 乌?
What characters sound the same as 乌 (wū)?
Is 乌 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 乌 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.