拇 (mǔ): thumb; big toe (used as a compo…

Meanings

1 thumb; big toe (used as a component in compound words)

Characters

拇

mǔ

thumb; big toe

Examples

拇指是手上最粗壮的手指。

Mǔzhǐ shì shǒushàng zuì cūzhuàng de shǒuzhǐ.

The thumb is the sturdiest finger on the hand.

她的拇趾因为穿错鞋而受伤了。

Tā de mǔzhǐ yīnwèi chuān cuò xié ér shòushāng le.

Her big toe was injured from wearing the wrong shoes.

Tips

usage

拇 is rarely used alone — it appears in compounds: 拇指 (mǔzhǐ, thumb or big toe), 拇趾 (mǔzhǐ, big toe specifically). The thumb gesture of approval is 竖起大拇指 (shù qǐ dà mǔzhǐ).

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left raise-hand radical signals that 拇 names a part of the hand — specifically the thumb. The indexing radical for the body-part-of-the-hand family alongside 指 finger, 掌 palm. The thumb is anatomically tied to the hand, so the radical is both classifier and meaning-carrier.

phonetic

母 mǔ

mother (here phonetic)

Right 母 supplies the sound — mǔ unchanged. 母 also adds a faint flavour: as "mother finger" the thumb is the chief, first among the five — leader of the hand. Same phonetic appears in 姆 nanny. Pure phonetic borrowing reinforced by the "chief / mother" imagery.