盅

zhōng
noun #29,867

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 small handleless cup or bowl
  2. 2 goblet (for wine or tea)
  3. 3 dice cup

Examples

HSK 1
Chá zhōng lǐ háiyǒu bàn bēi rèchá.
There is still half a cup of hot tea in the teacup.
HSK 7-9
Tā duān qǐ jiǔzhōng, yìyǐn'érjìn.
He picked up the wine cup and drained it in one go.

Tips

usage
盅 specifically refers to a small, handleless cup. In compound words: 酒盅 (wine cup), 茶盅 (tea cup), 骰盅 (dice cup). It evokes a traditional, often ceramic drinking vessel.

Components

radical
皿 mǐn
vessel; dish
Bottom 皿 - pictograph of a footed dish or bowl seen from the side. As the indexing radical it places 盅 in the vessel family with 盆 basin, 盘 plate, 盏 small cup, 盖 lid. A 盅 is specifically a small handleless cup for tea, wine, or shaking dice.
phonetic
中 zhōng
middle; centre
Top 中 supplies the sound - zhōng read directly through to the parent with no shift. There is also a soft visual reinforcement: the vertical stroke piercing a frame echoes liquid filling a centred cup. Same phonetic appears in 忠 (loyal) and 钟 (clock).

Stroke Order

盅 zhōng