烏 (wū) - Crow, raven & black

烏Tone 1

wū ｜ 10 strokes ｜ radical:

万响

烏 · wū

Crow, raven;

black;

dark;

exclamation particle;

used in names for places and people.

Crow, ravenblackdark

Usage highlights

CrowBlack cloudsJetUkraineUrumqi cityBlack tea

Synonyms

  • 鸦— Crow, raven
  • 黑— Black (color)

Antonyms

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • A crow cawed from the tree (乌鸦在树上叫).
  • The sky turned dark before the storm (乌云密布).
  • He has black hair (乌黑的头发).
  • Uruguay is a country in South America (乌拉圭).

Collocations

  • Crow(乌鸦)
  • Black clouds(乌云)
  • Jet-black(乌黑)
  • Ukraine(乌克兰)
  • Urumqi city(乌鲁木齐)
  • Black tea(乌茶 in some contexts)

Idioms

  • Like a crow on a pig — equally black(乌鸦落在猪身上)
  • The crow thinks its own fledglings fairest(乌鸦认为自己的雏鸟最美)
  • The rabbit dies, the fox mourns — false grief(兔死狐悲，物伤其类)
  • Birds of a feather flock together(乌合之众)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In Chinese culture, the crow is often seen as an ill omen, associated with bad luck or death.
  • The character 乌 is also used to represent the color black, especially a deep, glossy black.
  • It appears in the names of several places, such as Urumqi and Ukraine, in transliteration.

FAQ