<p>If the character &quot;名&quot; appears alone, it generally means &quot;name&quot; or &quot;given name&quot; (by the way, &quot;surnames&quot; in Chinese is &quot;姓&quot;, and Chinese name consists of a surname and a given name, so &quot;person's name&quot; in Chinese is &quot;姓名&quot;)</p>
<p>If 名 appears with other character, it will have different meanings depending on the context, e.g., a classifier (三名老师, means &quot;three (of) teachers&quot;), fame (名声), famous (闻名), describe (不可名状)...</p>

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2021-10-14T08:19:18.030Z
2021-10-14T08:19:18.030Z
BoomingBones
<p>I'm new to Chinese as well as this forum. I would like to know what this means:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/m8Yi1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/m8Yi1.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>I know it's pronounced míng, and I also know that the Ming Dynasty once ruled china. Does this also have some other meaning in Chinese, that is not a proper noun?</p>

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2021-10-14T07:14:10.237Z
Ming dynasty is not the same character: 明 (the character in the photo is 名).
Becky 李蓓
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2021-10-14T07:29:46.897Z
Don't leave the OP hanging. Put her out of her misery :)
Wayne Cheah
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2021-10-14T07:57:39.973Z
As a noun, it means name. If it is a verb, it means to describe.
joehua
<character-identification>
Meaning of míng
# Meaning of míng

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-14)

I'm new to Chinese as well as this forum. I would like to know what this means:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/m8Yi1.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/m8Yi1.jpg)

I know it's pronounced míng, and I also know that the Ming Dynasty once ruled china. Does this also have some other meaning in Chinese, that is not a proper noun?

**Tags:** character-identification

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Ming dynasty is not the same character: 明 (the character in the photo is 名).  
> **username_2**: Don't leave the OP hanging. Put her out of her misery :)  
> **username_3**: As a noun, it means name. If it is a verb, it means to describe.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2021-10-14. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

If the character "名" appears alone, it generally means "name" or "given name" (by the way, "surnames" in Chinese is "姓", and Chinese name consists of a surname and a given name, so "person's name" in Chinese is "姓名")

If 名 appears with other character, it will have different meanings depending on the context, e.g., a classifier (三名老师, means "three (of) teachers"), fame (名声), famous (闻名), describe (不可名状)...


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