贮 (zhù): to store

Meanings

1 to store
2 to stockpile
3 to put in reserve

Characters

贮

zhù

to store, to put in reserve

Examples

粮仓中贮满了粮食以备冬季。

Liángcāng zhōng zhù mǎn le liángshí yǐ bèi dōngjì.

The granary was stocked full of grain in preparation for winter.

这种电池能贮存大量电能。

Zhè zhǒng diànchí néng zhùcún dàliàng diànnéng.

This type of battery can store a large amount of electrical energy.

古人在地窖中贮藏食物。

Gǔrén zài dìjiào zhōng zhùcáng shíwù.

Ancient people stored food in cellars.

Tips

register

贮 is a classical/formal character. In modern Chinese it most commonly appears in compound words like 贮存 (to store), 贮藏 (to stockpile), or 贮量 (reserves). As a standalone verb it is rare in everyday speech.

Components

radical

贝 bèi

cowrie; money

Left cowrie radical, the simplified form of 貝. Cowrie shells were the earliest Chinese currency, so 贝 indexes wealth-and-storage characters (财 wealth, 货 goods, 购 to buy). 贮 means to store treasures - originally cowries kept safe under a roof, hence the radical and the right-side roof-cover.

semantic

宀 mián

roof

Upper-right 宀 - a roof with eaves on both sides, the roof radical. Picturing valuables kept indoors under shelter. Combined with 一 below it forms the older graph 宁 'storehouse' - a roofed space marked off for keeping things, the etymological core of 贮.

semantic

一 yī

one; ground line

Lower-right 一 - a single horizontal stroke representing the floor or ground line under the roof above. Together with 宀 it makes the older 宁 'storehouse, treasury,' supplying both the sound zhù and the meaning of an enclosed space for safekeeping.