鸟 meaning in English
bird; "bird" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 196)
Meaning of 鸟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- bird
- "bird" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 196)
- (dialect) to pay attention to
- (intensifier) damned
- goddamn
Measure word: 隻|只,群
- variant of 屌[diao3]
- penis
How to use 鸟
鸟 is the everyday word for bird, and it often appears as 鸟儿 (niǎor) in northern speech or in words like 小鸟 (xiǎoniǎo) and 鸟类 (niǎolèi). It also shows up in slang such as 菜鸟 (càiniǎo), meaning a rookie. Example: 树上有一只小鸟。(Shù shang yǒu yì zhī xiǎoniǎo.) There is a little bird in the tree.
鸟 (niǎo) is a simplified picture of a bird: the dot at the top is the eye, the hook shape is the head and body, and the long sweeping stroke at the bottom is the tail. Picture a small bird sitting on a branch with its tail hanging down.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 鸟 (niǎo, bird) with 乌 (wū, crow or black), which looks the same but is missing the dot inside. Remember that the crow is so black you cannot see its eye, so 乌 has no dot.
鸟 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.
鸟 niǎo · bird · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 鸟.
| 鸟巢 | niǎocháo | bird's nest; nickname for Beijing 2008 Olympic stadium |
| 小鸟 | xiǎoniǎo | small bird; young bird (hatchling, nestling, fledgling, chick) |
| 鸟儿 | niǎor | bird |
| 菜鸟 | càiniǎo | (coll.) sb new to a particular subject; rookie |
| 鸟类 | niǎolèi | birds |
| 飞鸟 | fēiniǎo | bird |
| 鸟事 | niǎoshì | damn thing; (not one's) goddamn business |
| 火烈鸟 | huǒlièniǎo | flamingo |
| 鸟嘴 | niǎozuǐ | beak |
| 鸵鸟 | tuóniǎo | ostrich |
| 啄木鸟 | zhuómùniǎo | woodpecker |
| 知更鸟 | zhīgēngniǎo | redbreast; robin |
Questions about 鸟
What does 鸟 mean?
鸟 (niǎo) means "bird; "bird" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 196)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 鸟?
鸟 is made of 1 character: 鸟 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 鸟 an HSK word?
Yes. 鸟 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 鸟 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 鸟 is written 鳥.
What measure word do you use with 鸟?
The usual measure word is 只 (zhī), as in 一只鸟 (yì zhī niǎo), one bird. For a flock you can say 一群鸟 (yì qún niǎo).
Is 鸟 ever a rude word?
In some dialects and rough speech it can be an intensifier like damned, and it can also be read diǎo as a crude variant of 屌 meaning penis. In normal standard Mandarin, niǎo meaning bird is completely neutral and safe to use.