脉 mài a pulse
a pulse; arteries; veins
How to remember 脉: 月 meat + 永 forever = a pulse. The old runner, who stopped eating meat years ago, hopes to live forever and proudly checks his watch for a pulse of fifty.
Component breakdown
形声 · Meaning + sound
originally 肉 + 𠂢
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
脉 = 月 meat + 永 forever
- 月 meat meaning
- 永 forever shape only
The old runner, who stopped eating meat years ago, hopes to live forever and proudly checks his watch for a pulse of fifty.
How it came to be
In the small seal form, the flesh gives the meaning and the right side the sound.
How it is used
- "Pulse/vessel," and by extension a connected line: 动脉 (dòngmài) artery, 脉搏 (màibó) pulse, 山脉 (shānmài) mountain range, 脉络 (màiluò) veins / the logical thread of an argument.
- Idiom 来龙去脉 (láilóng-qùmài) the whole sequence of cause and effect. Has a rarer reading mò in 含情脉脉 (hánqíng-mòmò) gazing with tender affection: a common test trap.