媒

méi

女 + 某

Definitions

méi (noun) matchmaker; go-between

méi (noun) medium; intermediary

méi (noun) media (esp. news media)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 某 represents the sound.

Semantic: 女 Phonetic: 某

About

The character 媒 (méi) means matchmaker, intermediary, or medium. It combines the semantic component 女 (woman) on the left, hinting at the historical role of women in arranging marriages, with the phonetic component 某 (mǒu) on the right, meaning "a certain person" or "so-and-so". This phonetic element provides the pronunciation and evokes the idea of introducing an unspecified party, fitting the matchmaker's traditional function of bringing people together.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

社交媒体很流行。

Shè jiāo méi tǐ hěn liú xíng.

Social media is very popular.

传统媒体正在变革。

Chuán tǒng méi tǐ zhèng zài biàn gé.

Traditional media is changing.

互联网是重要媒介。

Hù lián wǎng shì zhòng yào méi jiè.

The internet is an important medium.

媒人促成了这段婚姻。

Méi rén cù chéng le zhè duàn hūn yīn.

The matchmaker facilitated this marriage.

媒体对事件进行了报道。

Méi tǐ duì shì jiàn jìn xíng le bào dào.

The media reported on the event.

多媒体教学越来越普遍。

Duō méi tǐ jiào xué yuè lái yuè pǔ biàn.

Multimedia teaching is becoming more and more common.

社交媒体影响了年轻人的价值观。

Shè jiāo méi tǐ yǐng xiǎng le nián qīng rén de jià zhí guān.

Social media has influenced the values of young people.

媒介融合是传媒业的发展趋势。

Méi jiè róng hé shì chuán méi yè de fā zhǎn qū shì.

Media convergence is the development trend of the media industry.

Related Characters

Component: 女

Component: 某

媒