伍

wǔ

五 + 亻

Definitions

wǔ (numeral) five (banker's numeral)

wǔ (noun) squad of five soldiers

wǔ (verb) to associate with

Etymology

Five 五 people 亻; 五 also provides the pronunciation

About

Combining the 'person' radical 亻 on the left with the number five 五 (wǔ) on the right, which also supplies the pronunciation, 伍 first denoted a military organizational unit of exactly five foot soldiers. This historical grouping later broadened the meaning to serve as a general term for troops, the military, or an army in the collective sense. Because 伍 is pronounced identically to the numeral five, it is also employed as the formal, capitalized anti-fraud version of that number on checks and banking documents to prevent tampering.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他是我们队伍的队长。

Tā shì wǒmen duìwu de duìzhǎng.

He is the captain of our team.

我哥哥去年入伍了。

Wǒ gēge qùnián rù wǔ le.

My elder brother enlisted last year.

退伍军人受到尊重。

Tuì wǔ jūnrén shòudào zūnzhòng.

Retired soldiers are respected.

伍先生是我们的老师。

Wǔ xiānsheng shì wǒmen de lǎoshī.

Mr. Wu is our teacher.

我们需要重整队伍。

Wǒmen xūyào chóngzhěng duìwu.

We need to reorganize the team.

队伍排列得很整齐。

Duìwu páiliè de hěn zhěngqí.

The team is lined up very neatly.

在军队中，伍长负责指挥。

Zài jūnduì zhōng, wǔzhǎng fùzé zhǐhuī.

In the army, a corporal is responsible for command.

他因伤提前退伍了。

Tā yīn shāng tíqián tuì wǔ le.

He retired from the military early due to injury.

Related Characters

Component: 五

Component: 亻

伍