装 (zhuāng) · to install, to pretend, to load

Meanings

1 to install
2 to pretend
3 to load

Characters

装

zhuāng

install; load; pretend; clothing

Examples

HSK 2

别装了，我知道你在笑。

Bié zhuāng le, wǒ zhīdào nǐ zài xiào.

Stop pretending, I know you're laughing.

HSK 3

他在装空调。

Tā zài zhuāng kōngtiáo.

He's installing an air conditioner.

HSK 3

请把行李装进车里。

Qǐng bǎ xíngli zhuāng jìn chē lǐ.

Please load the luggage into the car.

Tips

usage

装 has many meanings depending on context: 安装 (install), 装作/假装 (pretend), 装载 (load), 服装 (clothing).

memory

Think of 装 as 'putting something on': installing equipment, loading cargo, or putting on an act.

Components

radical

衣 yī

clothing; garment

Bottom indexing radical 衣 (clothing) - pictograph of a robe with collar and sleeves spread. Provides all the meaning: 装 originally meant putting on clothes, then generalised to packing, loading, installing, even pretending (a kind of 'putting on'). Same radical drives 袋 (bag), 装 (here), 裙 (skirt).

phonetic

壮 zhuàng

strong; robust

Top 壮 supplies the sound (zhuàng → zhuāng, just a tone shift) and a faint 'put on something solid' flavour - getting 'kitted out' in armour or formal robes. 壮 itself is 爿 + 士 (a strong warrior). Same phonetic in 桩 (stake) and 妆 (makeup).