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综

綜
zèng / zōng
noun #43,002

Meanings

  1. 1 heddle (the loom part that raises and lowers the warp threads so the weft can pass between them)

Examples

HSK 7-9
织布机上的综能提起经线，让纬线穿过。
Zhībùjī shàng de zèng néng tí qǐ jīngxiàn, ràng wěixiàn chuānguò.
The heddle on a loom lifts the warp threads so the weft can cross through.
HSK 7-9
传统木织机上可能有好几片综一起工作。
Chuántǒng mù zhījī shàng kěnéng yǒu hǎojǐ piàn zèng yìqǐ gōngzuò.
A traditional wooden loom may have several heddles working together.

Tips

usage
The zèng reading is a specialist weaving term: the 综 is the heddle, the set of cords or wires that raise selected warp threads on a loom so the shuttle can pass the weft beneath them. It is the original concrete meaning of the character; the everyday 综合 'to synthesize' sense (zōng) grew out of this image of gathering many threads under one control cord.

Components

radical
纟 sī
silk thread (radical form of 糸)
Left silk radical, the simplified side form of 糸, a twisted skein cut to three strokes. It indexes 综 in the thread-and-weaving family: 线 line, 织 to weave, 绣 to embroider. The character names the heddle of a loom, the cord that lifts warp threads, anchoring the meaning right at the loom.
phonetic
宗 zōng
ancestor; principal
Right side 宗 supplies the sound directly: zōng. The same phonetic powers 棕 palm, 踪 trace, 鬃 mane, 粽 zongzi. 宗 itself is a roof over an altar, the ancestral shrine and a clan's gathering point, which faintly fits a heddle as the thread that organizes all the warp into one pattern.

Stroke Order

综 zèng