梢 (shāo): tip of a branch

Meanings

1 tip of a branch
2 the end or tip of something

Characters

梢

shāo

tip of a branch, treetop

Examples

鸟儿停在树梢上唱歌。

Niǎo'er tíng zài shùshāo shàng chànggē.

A bird perched on the tip of a branch and sang.

风吹过，树梢轻轻摇动。

Fēng chuī guò, shùshāo qīngqīng yáodòng.

The wind blew and the treetops swayed gently.

Tips

memory

梢 is often seen in the compound 树梢 (treetop). The wood radical 木 shows it relates to trees.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Tree radical on the left, the indexing radical. A 梢 is the tip of a tree branch — the topmost twig — so the tree radical does direct semantic work. Files 梢 in the wood-and-tree family with 树 tree, 枝 branch, 根 root. The radical sets the literal stage.

phonetic

肖 xiāo

to resemble; small (here phonetic)

Right side 肖 supplies the sound — xiāo shifted to shāo in 梢's reading. There's a faint semantic echo too: 肖's 'small/diminishing' overtone matches the way a branch tapers toward its tip. Same root: 销 to melt, 消 to vanish, 稍 slightly.