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周

zhōu
noun HSK 2 #375

Meanings

  1. 1 week
  2. 2 cycle
  3. 3 all around

Examples

HSK 1
一周有七天。
Yī zhōu yǒu qī tiān.
A week has seven days.
HSK 1
下周见。
Xià zhōu jiàn.
See you next week.
HSK 4
他跑了操场一周。
Tā pǎo le cāochǎng yī zhōu.
He ran one lap around the field.

Tips

usage
周 and 星期 both mean 'week'. 周 is slightly more formal. Days of the week: 周一 (Monday) through 周日 (Sunday).

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth; small enclosure
Inner-bottom mouth radical - also 周's indexing radical (Kangxi #30). Carries the semantic anchor: the original sense was a fenced field (口 = small enclosure) holding grain in completeness. From 'all around' came 周围, 周末, 周朝 (Zhou dynasty), and the surname.
semantic
冂 jiōng
down-open frame
Outer frame 冂 - open at the bottom, outlining the boundary of the field/enclosure. Two strokes: left-falling + top-and-right-hook. Same frame appears in 用, 同, 网. The whole char is indexed under Kangxi #30 口 - the mouth-shape tucked at the base of the frame.
semantic
土 tǔ
earth; soil
Middle 土 - earth/ground inside the framed enclosure, completing the ancient picture of a planted field. Originally 周 showed grain on the soil within walled boundaries; the 土 is the cultivated land at the heart of 'completeness all around.'

Stroke Order

周 zhōu