gǒu
noun #30,561

Meanings

  1. 1 a bound morpheme used in plant names - chiefly 枸杞 (gǒuqǐ, goji berry / wolfberry) and 枸骨 (gǒugǔ, Chinese holly)
  2. 2 (reading jǔ) used in 枸橼 (jǔyuán, citron)
  3. 3 (reading gōu) bent; crooked (rare)

Examples

HSK 6
Māma pào le yī bēi gǒuqǐchá.
Mom brewed a cup of goji tea.
HSK 7-9
Gǒu zuì chángjiàn yú gǒuqǐ zhège cí lǐ.
枸 most commonly appears in the word goji (gǒuqǐ).

Tips

memory
Wood radical + (gōu/jù) phonetic. has three readings: gǒu (枸杞 goji, 枸骨 holly), by far the most common, jǔ (枸橼 citron), and gōu (a rare "bent" reading). For practical purposes, when you see today it's almost always pronounced gǒu in 枸杞.

Components

radical
tree; wood
Tree radical on the left marks as a plant, used almost exclusively in compound names like 枸杞 (goji berry / wolfberry) and 枸骨 (Chinese holly). The radical groups it with the rest of the plant kingdom in script: , , , .
phonetic
phrase; sentence
Right side supplies the sound: jù → gǒu / jǔ / gōu (the character carries multiple readings depending on which plant it names). is purely phonetic; its 'sentence' meaning is not active. Same phonetic family as colt, detain, dog, sharing a bound, hooked, or curled sense.

Stroke Order

gǒu