yuánzì Chinese characters of the chemical elements
美

美 měi

“beautiful, pretty; pleasing”

On its own, an ordinary character; Cantonese mei5. Readings and gloss from the Unicode Unihan database.

Carries Magnesium

钅 metal → solid metal
+
美 měi
=
镁 měi · Mg 12

Transliterates syllable 1 of mag·ne·sium: magnesium → měi.

The element keeps the component’s reading exactly.