罗 (luó) · to collect, to gather, to display

Meanings

1 to collect
2 to gather
3 to display
4 gauze; net

Characters

罗

luó

net; to collect; to display

Examples

HSK 5

他罗列了所有的证据。

Tā luóliè le suǒyǒu de zhèngjù.

He listed all the evidence.

HSK 7-9

星罗棋布的村庄分散在平原上。

Xīngluóqíbù de cūnzhuāng fēnsàn zài píngyuán shàng.

Villages are scattered across the plain like stars and chess pieces.

Tips

usage

罗 often appears in compounds: 罗列 (to list), 网罗 (to recruit/ensnare), 搜罗 (to collect). Also a common surname (罗).

Components

radical

罒 wǎng

net (radical form)

Top net radical - the indexing radical, a horizontal grid picturing a hunting net. The original meaning of 罗 was a bird-catching net; from 'gathering birds in a net' came the figurative senses of collecting, listing, and recruiting. Same family as 罚 (punish), 置 (set up), 罢 (cease).

semantic

夕 xī

evening

Bottom 夕 - replaces traditional 羅's far more elaborate bottom (糸 silk + 隹 bird). Loosely evokes evening, the time when birds return to roost and nets are set. The 1956 simplification cut visual density while preserving the net-catches-birds frame.