哄
hǒng
#2,508 most
frequent character
to deceive, to coax, to amuse (a child)
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
哄 began as noise made by a crowd, with 口 mouth as the meaning part and 共 gòng for the sound, matching only in rhyme. Read hōng it is crowd noise or a roar; hòng means an uproar. Read hǒng, the sound was borrowed for 'to fool', which then grew to coaxing and amusing.
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