象
xiàng
elephant
CL:隻|只[zhi1]; shape; form; appearance; to imitate
a picture of 象 → the elephant, source of all shapes
象 was originally a detailed pictograph of an elephant — trunk, tusks, and heavy body — so vivid that it became the word for 'shape' and 'appearance' itself. The components ⺈, 口, and 豕 are residues of that drawing, not a semantic equation.
动物园里有一头大象。
dòng wù yuán lǐ yǒu yī tóu dà xiàng。
There is a big elephant in the zoo.
那头象的鼻子很长，孩子们都很喜欢看它。
nà tóu xiàng de bí zi hěn cháng，hái zi men dōu hěn xǐ huān kàn tā。
That elephant's trunk is very long, and the children all like watching it.
Words with 象
印象
yìn xiàng
impression (sth that stays in one's mind)
象山县
xiàng shān xiàn
Xiangshan county in Ningbo 寧波|宁波[Ning2 bo1], Zhejiang
观象台
guān xiàng tái
observatory
迹象
jì xiàng
sign; indication; mark; indicator
包罗万象
bāo luó wàn xiàng
all-embracing
形象大使
xíng xiàng dà shǐ
person who represents an organization and enhances its image; an ambassador
豌豆象
wān dòu xiàng
pea weevil
象虫
xiàng chóng
weevil; snout beetle
迟滞现象
chí zhì xiàn xiàng
hysteresis
录象
lù xiàng
variant of 錄像|录像[lu4 xiang4]
长毛象
cháng máo xiàng
woolly mammoth
险象环生
xiǎn xiàng huán shēng
dangers spring up all around (idiom); surrounded by perils