蛰 (zhé): to hibernate (of animals)

Meanings

1 to hibernate (of animals)
2 to lie dormant
3 to sting (of insects)

Characters

蛰

zhé

to hibernate; to sting

Examples

熊在冬天蛰伏，等待春天到来。

Xióng zài dōngtiān zhéfú, děngdài chūntiān dàolái.

Bears hibernate in winter, waiting for spring to arrive.

惊蛰是二十四节气之一，代表冬眠动物苏醒。

Jīngzhé shì èrshísì jiéqì zhīyī, dàibiǎo dōngmián dòngwù sūxǐng.

Jingzhe is one of the 24 solar terms, representing the awakening of hibernating animals.

他被蜜蜂蛰了一下，手很肿。

Tā bèi mìfēng zhé le yīxià, shǒu hěn zhǒng.

He was stung by a bee and his hand swelled up.

Tips

history

蛰 appears in 惊蛰 (Jīngzhé), the 3rd of the 24 traditional solar terms (around March 5-6), literally 'startling the hibernators.' Thunder awakens creatures from winter dormancy. The dual meaning (hibernate + sting) comes from the character's association with insects hiding in the ground.

Components

radical

虫 chóng

insect; small creature

Bottom 虫 is the indexing radical - once a snake or worm, now used broadly for cold-blooded animals. Hibernators are mostly insects and reptiles, so the radical fits 蛰 'to lie dormant in winter'. The 24-solar-term 惊蛰 'awakening of insects' uses this same image.

phonetic

执 zhí

to hold; grip

Top 执 supplies the sound - zhí shifted to zhé in 蛰's reading. There's a faint semantic echo: a hibernating animal is 'held still' through winter, gripped by the cold. But primarily read 执 here as the phonetic anchor. Same root: 挚 sincere, 蛰 hibernate.