The original meaning connected to spirits that charm or mislead people, which explains the modern sense of fascination or allure.
Today, the character is most commonly used in words like 매력 (魅力) to describe personal charm or appeal.
 
Related characters:

ghost, spirit

demon, evil spirit, sorcery, magic

to be deluded, to be confused, to be misled, to tempt, to deceive

 — semantic component meaning “ghost; spirit”;


not, not yet, still incomplete, unfinished

— phonetic component indicating the sound (매 / mèi).
Originally, the character referred to a spirit that bewitches or enchants people, which led to the meaning to fascinate or captivate.
 
Semantic development:
-spirit or supernatural being;
- bewitching or enchanting force;
- attraction, charm, fascination.

매력 (魅力) — charm; attractiveness
매혹 (魅惑) — fascination; enchantment

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

Rare and archaic Chinese character

thunderous sound, repeated crashing of thunder

adult male, fourth Heavenly Stem, nail

seven, number 7, seventh

elder, man of respect, husband, head of a family

up, top, first, best

below, under, to descend, to go down

not, no, non-

world, generation, lifetime

unit, individual, single

center, middle, inside

to grasp, to hold, to seize

to string together, to pierce through, a skewer, a series or chain of things

a small round object, pellet, ball, pill

red, cinnabar-red

king, lord, master, sovereign

thus, then, only, surprisingly

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Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

魅

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Additional notes

Neighboring characters in the dictionary