Definitions
(noun)
evening; dusk
Etymology
Pictograph of the moon. Used to express "evening" or "night".
About
The character "夕" began as a pictograph of a crescent moon, inherently linking it to the onset of night, and its earliest form was virtually indistinguishable from the character for moon (月). Through gradual graphic modification, it settled into a more abstract shape featuring a short curved line and an internal dot, a distillation that marked its semantic specialization toward the concept of evening itself rather than the lunar object. This etymological foundation in the fading daylight continues to anchor its primary meaning, which has consistently referred to dusk or nightfall throughout its history. While retaining this central sense, the character has also acquired wider applications in temporal vocabulary, often serving as a bound morpheme in compounds that denote occasions like the final evening of a year or the general decline of day into night.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
夕阳真美丽。
我们除夕夜吃年夜饭。
夕照把湖面染成了金色。
山村的夕烟缓缓升起。
他喜欢在夕晖中散步思考。
朝夕相处让我们成了好朋友。
这古老的传统源于一个七夕的传说。
在生命的夕暮之年，他选择了回归故乡。