Meaning of 舞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to dance
- to wield
- to brandish
How to use 舞
On its own, 舞 often appears in set phrases or in the sense of waving something, as in 舞剑 (wǔ jiàn) to perform a sword dance. For everyday speech, people usually say 跳舞 (tiàowǔ) rather than 舞 alone. Example: 她很喜欢跳舞。(Tā hěn xǐhuan tiàowǔ.) She really likes dancing.
The bottom of 舞 (wǔ) is 舛 (chuǎn), which looks like two feet pointing in different directions, like steps in a dance. Picture the busy top as a dancer's swirling costume and the bottom as feet moving to the music.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 舞 (wǔ) with 無/无 (wú, without) because the tops look alike. 舞 has 舛 at the bottom and a third tone, while 無 has four dots and a second tone.
舞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
舞 wǔ · to dance · 14 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 舞.
| 跳舞 | tiàowǔ | to dance |
| 舞台 | wǔtái | (lit. and fig.) stage; arena |
| 舞蹈 | wǔdǎo | dance (performance art); dancing |
| 舞厅 | wǔtīng | dance hall; ballroom |
| 鼓舞 | gǔwǔ | to inspire; to encourage; to hearten; to boost (morale) |
| 歌舞 | gēwǔ | singing and dancing |
| 舞会 | wǔhuì | dance; ball |
| 舞者 | wǔzhě | dancer |
| 脱衣舞 | tuōyīwǔ | striptease |
| 舞伴 | wǔbàn | dancing partner |
| 舞步 | wǔbù | dance steps |
| 芭蕾舞 | bālěiwǔ | ballet (loanword) |
Questions about 舞
What does 舞 mean?
舞 (wǔ) means "to dance; to wield" and is used as a noun and verb.
How do you write 舞?
舞 is made of 1 character: 舞 (14 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 舞 an HSK word?
Yes. 舞 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I say 我舞 to mean I dance?
Not in normal speech. Use 跳舞 (tiàowǔ), as in 我们去跳舞吧 (Wǒmen qù tiàowǔ ba), Let's go dancing. 舞 alone sounds literary or appears in fixed words.
Why does 鼓舞 mean to encourage?
鼓舞 (gǔwǔ) combines drumming and dancing, an image of lifting people's spirits. It is used for morale, as in 这个消息很鼓舞人心 (Zhège xiāoxi hěn gǔwǔ rénxīn), This news is very inspiring.