毛

máo
HSK 5
#623 most
frequent character
hair, feather, down
noun

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

毛 is a picture of human or animal hair, and hair or fur was its first meaning. From there it grew to feather, then tiny, and finally a small unit of money.

Drawn as: human or animal hair

毛 as a component in other characters

meaning13 characters
毫笔毯髦毡氅毽氇氆毵氍毹毪
sound5 characters
尾耗髦耄酕
picture4 characters
尾蚝牦毳

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Example Sentences

我的头发很长，有很多毛。
wǒde tóufà hěn cháng ， yǒu hěnduō máo 。
My hair is long and has a lot of strands.
小鸟的毛很柔软。
xiǎo niǎo de máo hěn róuruǎn 。
The feathers of the little bird are very soft.
这件衣服上有一些毛。
zhè jiàn yīfú shàngyǒu yīxiē máo 。
There are some fibers on this piece of clothing.

Grammar Points

HSK 1
Counting money

Words with similar meanings

发fā
hair
More commonly used to refer to hair specifically on the head.
羽毛yǔmáo
feather
Specifically refers to feather, used in a more context-specific way.

Homophones

矛máo
spear, lance, pike
猫máo
used in 貓腰|猫腰[mao2yao1]

Words Starting With 毛

毛巾máo jīn
towel
毛病máo bìng
fault; defect; shortcomings

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Public Lists with 毛

HSK 5
All words for the HSK 5 test
Body Parts
Head, arms, legs, internal organs, and basic anatomy.
Animals
Domestic and wild animal names, as well as insects, birds, and marine life.
Plants
Trees, flowers, crops, herbs, and other plant-related terms.