当

當
dàng
#71 most
frequent character
at or in the very same..., suitable

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

当 is a short form of 當, 尚 shàng plus 田 field, first meaning 'fields in a row'. Meanings grew to 'face', 'match', 'serve a duty', 'use as'. Read dàng, it gives 'appropriate', 'same', 'collateral', 'pawn' and 'treat as same'. The 'ding-dong' sense was borrowed for sound.

当 as a component in other characters

sound5 characters
档挡裆铛筜

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Same Characters, Different Readings

HSK 4
当dāng
to be, to act as, manage, withstand

Homophones

档dàng
pigeonhole, files, archives
荡dàng
to wash, to squander, to sweep away
挡dàng
to arrange, to put in order

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