午

Tap the pinyin to hear it

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)

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Components 丿干

noon · Heisig RSH #542

— as a component also called: stick horse

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
中午	zhōng wǔ	noon; midday; CL:個\|个[ge4]
上午	shàng wǔ	morning
下午	xià wǔ	afternoon; CL:個\|个[ge4]; p.m.
午饭	wǔ fàn	lunch; CL:份[fen4],頓\|顿[dun4],次[ci4],餐[can1]
格林尼治本初子午线	Gé lín ní zhì běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn	the Greenwich meridian
本初子午线	běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn	the first meridian; the prime meridian
子午线	zǐ wǔ xiàn	meridian
下午好	xià wǔ hǎo	(greeting) good afternoon
甲午战争	Jiǎ wǔ Zhàn zhēng	First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
下午茶	xià wǔ chá	afternoon tea (light afternoon meal, typically pastries with tea or coffee)
头午	tóu wǔ	(dialect) morning
午马	wǔ mǎ	Year 7, year of the Horse (e.g. 2002)
午安	wǔ ān	Good afternoon!; Hello (daytime greeting)
端午节	Duān wǔ jié	Dragon Boat Festival (5th day of the 5th lunar month)
午时	wǔ shí	11 am-1 pm (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times)
重午	chóng wǔ	Dragon Boat Festival (5th day of 5th lunar month)
午餐会	wǔ cān huì	luncheon
午后	wǔ hòu	afternoon
午前	wǔ qián	morning; a.m.
正午	zhèng wǔ	midday; noon; noonday

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
午 sound part	wǔ	noon; 7th terrestrial branch
许	xǔ	to consent, to permit; to promise, to betroth
杵	chǔ	pestle; to grind
忤	wǔ	disobedient; stubborn; wrong
仵	wǔ	similar
迕	wǔ	obstinate, perverse