木

mù

tree; wood, lumber; wooden

Meaning

Botanical: A living tree or plant.
Material: Wood, lumber, or timber.
Technical/Cosmological: In the context of natural philosophy (Five Elements), it represents the principle of growth and is associated with spring, the direction East, the color green/blue, and the liver.

Grammar and usage

Noun: Standard subject or object.
Modifier: Frequently precedes another noun to specify material composition ("wooden").
Generic Category: May serve as a broad classification for plant life or organic matter in lists of materials (e.g., alongside 金 metal, 石 stone).

Distinctions

Contrast with 林 (lín) and 森 (sēn): While the latter emphasize collective forests, 木 typically denotes a singular tree or the general substance.
Contrast with 材 (cái): While 木 refers to the substance in general, 材 specifically implies timber that has been selected or processed for a particular purpose.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.