兄

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elder brother

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Older brother 儿 speaking 口 to younger ones

Components 口儿

elder brother · Heisig RSH #107

口 mouth + human legs — as a component also called: teenager

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
二师兄	èr shī xiōng	(humorous) pig (alluding to Zhu Bajie 豬八戒\|猪八戒[Zhu1 Ba1 jie4])
双生兄弟	shuāng shēng xiōng dì	twin brothers
四海之内皆兄弟	sì hǎi zhī nèi jiē xiōng dì	all men are brothers
家兄	jiā xiōng	(polite) my elder brother
亲兄弟，明算帐	qīn xiōng dì , míng suàn zhàng	even with your own brother, keep clear accounts (idiom)
兄长	xiōng zhǎng	elder brother; term of respect for a man of about the same age
长兄	zhǎng xiōng	eldest brother
华纳兄弟	Huá nà Xiōng dì	Warner Brothers
孔方兄	kǒng fāng xiōng	(coll., humorous) money (so named because in former times, Chinese coins had a square hole…
卡拉马佐夫兄弟	Kǎ lā mǎ zuǒ fū Xiōng dì	Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky 陀思妥耶夫斯基[Tuo2 si1 tuo3 ye1 fu1 si1 ji1]
难兄难弟	nàn xiōng nàn dì	(idiom) companions in hardship; fellow sufferers
老兄	lǎo xiōng	elder brother (often used self-referentially); (form of address between male friends) old …
阿兄	ā xiōng	elder brother
兄台	xiōng tái	brother (polite appellation for a friend one's age)
年兄	nián xiōng	lit. older brother; fig. fellow students who are successful in the imperial examinations
内兄	nèi xiōng	wife's older brother
表兄	biǎo xiōng	older male cousin through a female relative
兄弟会	xiōng dì huì	fraternity
师兄	shī xiōng	senior male fellow disciple or student (by seniority, not age); son of one's teacher who i…
同胞兄妹	tóng bāo xiōng mèi	sibling

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
兄 sound part	xiōng	elder brother
贶	kuàng	to bestow, to grant; surname