五

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five; 5

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Five elements (the cross with the extra stroke) between heaven 一 and earth 一

Components 二 ? unknown part

five · Heisig RSH #5

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
五分之一	wǔ fēn zhī yī	one fifth
五大名山	Wǔ dà Míng shān	Five Sacred Mountains of the Daoists, namely: Mt Tai 泰山[Tai4 Shan1] in Shandong, Mt Hua 華山…
三不五时	sān bù wǔ shí	(Tw) from time to time; frequently
五打一	wǔ dǎ yī	to masturbate (slang)
五分美金	wǔ fēn Měi jīn	nickel; five US cents
五河县	Wǔ hé Xiàn	Wuhe, a county in Bengbu City 蚌埠市[Beng4 bu4 Shi4], Anhui
五台县	Wǔ tái Xiàn	Wutai, a county in Xinzhou City 忻州市[Xin1 zhou1 Shi4], Shanxi
五道口	Wǔ dào kǒu	Wudaokou neighborhood of Beijing
五台山	Wǔ tái Shān	Mt Wutai in Shanxi 山西[Shan1 xi1], one of the Four Sacred Mountains and home of the Bodhima…
五台市	Wǔ tái shì	Wutai city in Shanxi
五一	wǔ yī	5-1 (May 1st)
五音不全	wǔ yīn bù quán	tone deaf; unable to sing in tune
五指山市	Wǔ zhǐ shān shì	Wuzhishan City, Hainan
五金	wǔ jīn	metal hardware (nuts and bolts); the five metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin 金銀銅鐵錫\|金银…
五行	wǔ xíng	five phases of Chinese philosophy: wood 木, fire 火, earth 土, metal 金, water 水
一五一十	yī wǔ yī shí	lit. count by fives and tens (idiom); to narrate systematically and in full detail
五花八门	wǔ huā bā mén	myriad; all kinds of; all sorts of
三五	sān wǔ	several; three or five
五原县	Wǔ yuán Xiàn	Wuyuan, a county in Bayannur City 巴彥淖爾市\|巴彦淖尔市[Ba1 yan4 nao4 er3 Shi4], Inner Mongolia
哈拉尔五世	Hā lā ěr Wǔ shì	Harald V of Norway

These characters use 五 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
五 sound part	wǔ	five; surname
吾	wú	I, my, our; to resist, to impede