马 (mǎ) means "Horse" with HSK 3 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: Horse
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
马 (traditional 馬) is one of the clearest zoomorphic pictographs in the script. Oracle bone forms show a horse in profile with a prominent mane, recognisable head, four legs and a tail. Bronze inscriptions elaborate the mane into flowing strokes and emphasise the eye.
Form evolution
The pictographic horse survived through bronze and seal script with recognisable legs and mane, though increasingly stylised. Clerical script (隶变) broke the curved body into straight strokes, producing the traditional 馬 with four dots representing the legs. The simplified 马 reduces the body to three strokes and replaces the four-dot base with a single horizontal stroke.
How the meaning evolved
The meaning horse has been stable for over three thousand years. The character extended into surname use, cavalry and transport vocabulary, and chess terminology (马 is the knight, which moves in an L-shape like a horse). In colloquial modern usage 马上 literally on a horse came to mean immediately, reflecting the speed of mounted travel.
Cultural note
The idiom 马马虎虎 (horse-horse tiger-tiger) means so-so or careless, reportedly from a Song painter who drew an animal that was half horse, half tiger. The horse radical appears in a large family of related characters: 骑 ride, 驾 drive, 驶 speed, 骂 curse.
Basic info
Example sentences
Words containing 马
On the new HSK 3 exam
Studying for HSK 3? Keep 马 with the rest of your level.
HSK Lord schedules your reviews so each character comes back right before you would forget it. Free to start, and it picks up where you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Appears in these articles
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.