Learn Chinese Word Formation-毛

毛(máo) ：(hair,feather，wool，a family name)

“毛” is a pictographic character. In bronze script, it looks like curved hair. The shape basically stays unchanged in small seal script. The character “毛” we are looking at is evolved from the shape in small seal script. The character “毛” originally means human hair and eyebrow, and later on it generally refers to all kinds of hair. “毛” is also a radical. Most characters with the radical are associated with hair, such as “毡”(zhan, felt) and “毯” (tan, blanket). In addition, “毛” is a family name.

Because hairy things all have a rough surface, the character “毛” carries the meanings of “rough” and “coarse” by extension. It can also be used to describe something of no value. As a popular Chinese saying goes, “Death, can be weightier than Mountain Tai, or lighter than a feather”. If something is even lighter than a feather, then it is valueless. Therefore, the saying means death can be of great significance or of no value.（cultural-china.com）

jī běn jiě shì
基本解释：

1. dònɡ zhí wù de pí shànɡ suǒ shēnɡ de sī zhuànɡ wù ； niǎo lèi de yǔ máo
   动植物的皮上所生的丝状物；鸟类的羽毛

2. xiànɡ máo de dōnɡ xi ， zhǐ ɡǔ wù huò cǎo
   像毛的东西，指谷物或草

3. dōnɡ xi shànɡ chánɡ de méi
   东西上长的霉

4. cū cāo ， hái méi yǒu jiā ɡōnɡ de
   粗糙，还没有加工的

5. bù chún jìnɡ de
   不纯净的

6. zuò shì cū xīn ， bú xì zhì
   做事粗心，不细致

7. jīnɡ huānɡ
   惊慌

8. fā nù ， fā huǒ
   发怒，发火

9. xiǎo
   小

10. liànɡ cí ： yì yuán qián de shí fēn zhī yī ； jiǎo
    量词：一元钱的十分之一；角

11. xìnɡ 。
     姓。