闻 Wén

闻 is a phono-semantic compound written with the semantic component 耳 "Ear" inside its radical and phonetic character 门 "Door, Gate". The original meaning of 闻 was "to hear" and its written composition illustrates the concept of placing an ear against a door to hear what is happening on the other side.

闻 is a versatile word, often used to reference using the senses to gain information. Depending on the context of its usage, 闻 can mean: to hear, to smell, to sniff, to make known, famous or news. 闻 is combined with other characters to form words such as 闻出 (wén chū) "smell", 新闻 (xīn wén) "news", 传闻 (chuán wén) "rumors", 见闻 (jiàn wén) "knowledge", 闻人 (wén rén) "celebrity", and 丑闻 (chǒu wén) "scandal".

• Category: Phono-Semantic Compound
• Component Characters: 门 Mén | "Gate, Door" and 耳 Ěr | "Ear"