午 (wǔ): 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse, ancient Chinese compass point: 180° (south)
午 (wǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th june-6th july), year of the horse.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丿 (structural) and 干 (structural). It ranks #1003 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse
- ancient Chinese compass point: 180° (south)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 午 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 午
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 下午noun | xià wǔ | afternoon | 1 |
| 午餐noun | wǔ cān | lunch | 4 |
| 午饭noun | wǔ fàn | lunch | 1 |
| 中午noun | zhōng wǔ | noon | 1 |
| 上午noun | shàng wǔ | morning | 1 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 午夜 | wǔ yè | midnight |
| 午后 | wǔ hòu | afternoon |
| 午休 | wǔ xiū | noon break |
| 正午 | zhèng wǔ | midday |
| 午餐会 | wǔ cān huì | luncheon |
| 午宴 | wǔ yàn | lunch banquet |
| 午觉 | wǔ jiào | siesta |
| 午睡 | wǔ shuì | to take a nap in the afternoon |
| 子午线 | zǐ wǔ xiàn | meridian |
| 午时 | wǔ shí | 11 am-1 pm (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times) |
| 午前 | wǔ qián | morning |
| 晌午 | shǎng wu | noon |
| 端午节 | duān wǔ jié | Dragon Boat Festival (5th day of the 5th lunar month) |
| 下午好 | xià wǔ hǎo | (greeting) good afternoon |
| 本初子午线 | běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn | the first meridian |
午 appears in 39 compound words: 36 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 26 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 午 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
中午休息的时候，我喜欢去附近的公园散步。
Zhōngwǔ xiūxi de shíhou, wǒ xǐhuan qù fùjìn de gōngyuán sànbù.
During lunch break, I like to take walks in the nearby park.
新华全媒头条|丙午新春,看见一个蒸蒸日上的中国
xīn huá quán méi tóu tiáo bǐng wǔ xīn chūn , kàn jiàn yī gè zhēng zhēng rì shàng de zhōng guó
Xinhua All Media Headlines|Bingwu New Year, see a thriving China
回港潮|初六截至下午4时62.2万人次出入境 20万人次港人...
huí gǎng cháo chū liù jié zhì xià wǔ 4 shí 6 2 . 2 wàn rén cì chū rù jìng 2 0 wàn rén cì gǎng rén . . .
As of 4 p.m. on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, 622,000 people entered and exited Hong Kong people...
河北男孩放寒假每天睡到中午12点,爸爸不许家人打扰..
hé běi nán hái fàng hán jiǎ měi tiān shuì dào zhōng wǔ 1 2 diǎn , bà bà bù xǔ jiā rén dǎ rǎo . .
Hebei boy slept until 12 noon every day during the winter vacation, and his father did not allow his family to disturb him:
年初二全国高速公路流量快速回升,午后车流持续保持高..
nián chū èr quán guó gāo sù gōng lù liú liáng kuài sù huí shēng , wǔ hòu chē liú chí xù bǎo chí gāo . .
The second day of the year the national highway traffic quickly rebounded, the afternoon traffic continued to remain high....
上午伊核下午俄乌,特朗普“谈判用人”引争议:...
shǎng wǔ yī hé xià wǔ é wū , tè lǎng pǔ tán pàn yòng rén yǐn zhēng yì . . .
Morning Iran, Afternoon Russia-Ukraine: Trump's "Negotiation Team" Sparks Controversy:...
你午饭想吃面包吗？
Nǐ wǔfàn xiǎng chī miànbāo ma?
Would you like some bread for lunch?
你们今天下午在学校做些什么？
Nǐmen jīntiān xiàwǔ zài xuéxiào zuò xiē shénme?
What are you doing at school this afternoon?
那么你下午到过几个地方？
Nàme nǐ xiàwǔ dào guo jǐge dìfang?
So how many places have you been to in the afternoon?
你今天下午想不想去动物园？
Nǐ jīntiān xiàwǔ xiǎng bù xiǎng qù dòngwùyuán?
Would you like to go to the zoo this afternoon?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 午 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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