双 (shuāng): pair

Meanings

1 pair
2 double
3 measure word for pairs

Characters

双

shuāng

pair; double

Examples

我买了一双鞋。

Wǒ mǎi le yī shuāng xié.

I bought a pair of shoes.

她有一双大眼睛。

Tā yǒu yī shuāng dà yǎnjing.

She has a pair of big eyes.

双人房多少钱一晚？

Shuāngrén fáng duōshao qián yī wǎn?

How much is a double room per night?

Tips

grammar

双 is used as a measure word for things that come in pairs: 一双鞋 (a pair of shoes), 一双筷子 (a pair of chopsticks), 一双手 (a pair of hands), 一双眼睛 (a pair of eyes).

culture

双 is considered auspicious in Chinese culture because even numbers symbolize togetherness and good fortune. 双喜 (double happiness) is a symbol used at weddings.

Components

radical

又 yòu

right hand; again

The first 又 on the left depicts a stylized right hand. As the indexing radical it sets the lookup. Together with the second hand on the right, the doubled image stages the literal meaning: two hands held together, hence 'pair'.

semantic

又 yòu

right hand; again

The second 又 on the right pairs with the first to embody 'twoness' visually. Traditional 雙 was far more elaborate — two birds 隹 perched on a hand 又. The simplified 1956 form distills the idea down to two hands together — a striking visual ideograph of pairing.