皻 (cū) · chapped or roughened skin (rare archaic reading)

Meanings

1 chapped or roughened skin (rare archaic reading)

Characters

皻

cū

chapped or roughened skin (rare archaic reading)

Examples

HSK 7-9

整冬在田中劳作，农人之手皻裂。

Zhěng dōng zài tián zhōng láozuò, nóngrén zhī shǒu cū liè.

After working all winter in the fields, the laborer's hands were rough and cracked.

Tips

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Archaic - definitions follow classical attestation only. This cū reading appears as a marginal gloss in old lexicons paired with 皴 (chapped skin). Modern medical and everyday Chinese always uses 皴裂 or 皲裂. You'll only see this reading in older paleographic dictionaries.

Components

radical

皮 pí

skin

Left 皮 (Kangxi #107, skin) - anchors the meaning unambiguously in a skin condition. Pairs with 皴 (chapped) and 皲 (cracked) in the skin-condition family.

phonetic

差 chà

differ (here phonetic)

Right 差 - phonetic. The reading drifted from chā/chà to zhā in this character. Same phonetic in 搓 (rub) and 嗟 (sigh).