瑟 (sè): a type of Chinese zither (25 or…

Meanings

1 a type of Chinese zither (25 or 50 strings)
2 to tremble; to shiver

Characters

瑟

sè

zither; to tremble

Examples

她弹瑟弹得很好。

Tā tán sè tán de hěn hǎo.

She plays the se zither very well.

外面很冷，他瑟瑟发抖。

Wàimiàn hěn lěng, tā sèsè fādǒu.

It's cold outside, and he's shivering.

Tips

usage

Most commonly seen in 瑟瑟发抖 (shivering with cold or fear). The musical instrument meaning is literary and rare in daily speech.

memory

Think of someone playing a stringed instrument outdoors in winter, shivering (瑟瑟发抖) as they pluck the strings of the 瑟.

Components

radical

玨 jué

twin jade tablets

Top 玨 — two 王 (jade) elements stacked side by side. Pictures the bridge-rests on the body of the zither, which were carved from jade in the noblest instruments. Filed under radical 王 (jade). The double-jade icon also caps 琵, 琶, 琴 — the family of plucked-string instruments.

phonetic

必 bì

must (here phonetic)

Bottom 必 supplies the sound (bì → sè through significant Old Chinese drift, since the original phonetic cluster split between labial and sibilant branches). Same phonetic family: 蜜 (honey), 密 (dense). 瑟 took the s-branch; the others kept the b-branch. The character names a 25-string ancient zither, paired in the idiom 琴瑟和鸣 marital harmony.