峨眉

Chinese

		lofty; name of a mountain	eyebrow; upper margin
simp. and trad. (峨眉)		峨	眉
variant forms		峨嵋

峨眉。

note how the feelers of this moth resemble the peaks of Mount Emei (pictured above)

Etymology

峨眉 derives from the word 蛾眉 (“the feathery feelers of a moth”), so named because the peaks of Mount Emei do in fact resemble the feelers of a moth (see pictures). The "insect" radical (虫) on the left side of the first character 蛾 was later replaced with the "mountain" radical (山). Thus, 蛾 eventually became 峨, so as to denote the mountain. The "mountain" radical can be optionally added to the second character 眉. Both 峨嵋 and 峨眉 have been used through the centuries.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Éméi

(Zhuyin): ㄜˊ ㄇㄟˊ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Pinyin: Éméi
  - Zhuyin: ㄜˊ ㄇㄟˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ermei
  - IPA ^(key): /ˀɤ³⁵ meɪ̯³⁵/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    峨嵋
    峨眉
    蛾眉

Proper noun

峨眉

(～山) Mount Emei

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