俦

儔
chóu
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 companions; comrades
  2. 2 peers; one's like

Examples

HSK 4
Wúrén néng yǔ zhī wéi chóu.
No one could match him as a peer.
HSK 7-9
Mìng chóu xiào lǚ, xiānghù hūyìng.
Calling out to companions, they answered one another.

Tips

register
Strictly classical/literary. The modern survivor is the bound form 俦侣 ('companions'). Cao Zhi's 《洛神赋》 has the famous line 命俦啸侣 (calling out to companions and friends), still quoted today.
memory
Person radical 亻 plus 寿 (longevity), old companions you've spent a long life with.

Components

radical
亻 rén
person (radical form of 人)
Left person radical, side-form of 人, a standing human figure. The indexing radical, files 俦 in the family of person/companion words: 伴 companion, 侣 mate, 仁 humane. Marks it as referring to a class of people, peers or comrades, the literary 'one's own kind.'
phonetic
寿 shòu
long life; longevity
Right 寿 supplies the sound, shòu shifting to chóu with a consonant change. The simplified 俦 replaces traditional 儔, reducing the right side to 7 strokes. Pure phonetic role; 寿 'longevity' adds no meaning here. Same phonetic family: 涛 wave, 筹 plan / chip, 畴 farmland / category, 踌 hesitate.

Stroke Order

俦 chóu