Definitions
(noun)
well; water well
(adjective)
neat; orderly
Etymology
Pictograph of the opening of a water well.
About
As a pure pictograph, 井 depicts the wooden or stone framework built around a water well's opening to keep people and animals from falling in. The character's intersecting vertical and horizontal strokes mirror this protective curb's layout. Since the framework forms a neat, grid-like pattern, 井's meaning broadened from the well itself to anything orderly or systematically arranged. This includes the well-field system of land distribution, and by further extension, the abstract qualities of neatness and order.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
村子里有一口井。
井水非常清澈。
他从井里打水。
井口用石头围着。
早晨人们聚在井边。
这口井已经干涸多年。
因为干旱，井水下降了很多。
工人们正在挖掘一口新的矿井。
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