穿 (chuān): to wear; to put on (clothes, sh…

Meanings

1 to wear; to put on (clothes, shoes)
2 to pierce through; to pass through

Characters

穿

chuān

to wear; to pierce through

穴 (cave/hole) + 牙 (tooth) — a tooth piercing through.

Examples

今天穿什么？

Jīntiān chuān shénme?

What should I wear today?

她穿了一条红裙子。

Tā chuān le yì tiáo hóng qúnzi.

She wore a red skirt.

穿过马路要小心。

Chuānguò mǎlù yào xiǎoxīn.

Be careful crossing the road.

Tips

usage

穿 is for clothes that you 'enter into' (shirts, pants, shoes, socks). For accessories like hats, scarves, and glasses, use 戴 instead.

Components

radical

穴 xué

cave; hole

Top cave/hole radical — pictograph of a roof 宀 over a small entrance, the mouth of a dugout dwelling. Anchors 穿 in the cave family alongside 空 (empty), 窗 (window), 突 (sudden), 窄 (narrow). 穿 is to pierce or pass through an opening, hence the cave radical.

semantic

牙 yá

tooth (here semantic)

Bottom 牙 — pictograph of interlocking teeth or a tusk. Under 穴 the picture is a tooth boring through, a tusk piercing a hole — the original sense 'bore through, pierce.' From there came 'to wear clothing' (to thread your body through the garment). Compound ideograph.