尾 wěi tail
tail; end
How it came to be
A body with hair hanging off the back: a tail. It was worn, not grown, an ornament tied on for a dance, and the animal's tail took the same shape.
How it is used
- 尾巴 (wěiba, neutral tone on 巴) is the everyday word for an animal's tail.
- 结尾 (jiéwěi) - the ending - refers to the concluding part of a story, movie, or essay.
- 尾声 (wěishēng) is figurative - "coda" - for the final stage of any event or process.
- 追尾 (zhuīwěi) is the standard term for a rear-end collision in traffic accidents, and 尾气 (wěiqì) means vehicle exhaust.