明 míng — bright; clear, evident; to understand; next (明天, 明年); the Ming dynasty

拼音

• míng (second tone, rising)

bright; clear, evident; to understand; next (明天, 明年); the Ming dynasty

字形拆解

• 日meaning partThe sun, the greater light. Some early forms write a window 囧 in this position instead, with the moon shining through it.
• 月meaning partThe moon, the lesser light. Here it really is the moon, not the flesh radical.

Mnemonic

The sun 日 and the moon 月 written side by side — the two lights of the sky in one character, and so "bright". (Some early forms put a window 囧 where the sun now stands, with moonlight coming through it: the same idea by another road.) From bright comes clear, and from clear comes understood: 明白. And what dawns next is what comes next — 明天, 明年.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

含“明”的词

• 明天míngtiān (second tone, rising)今天的下一天
• 明白míngbai (second tone, rising)知道、清楚事情的意思
• 聪明/聰明cōngming (first tone, high and level)智力好，学东西快

部首 日 — other characters

• 是shì (fourth tone, falling)to be (am, is, are); yes, that is so; correct, right
• 时/時shí (second tone, rising)time; an hour; a season; when, at the time of
• 日rì (fourth tone, falling)sun; day; day of the month in a written date