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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

织布机上的综能提起经线，让纬线穿过。
Zhībùjī shàng de zèng néng tí qǐ jīng xiàn, ràng wěi xiàn chuānguò.
The heddle on a loom lifts the warp threads so the weft can cross through.
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 (here phonetic)
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