酬 (chóu) · to reward, to compensate, to repay

Meanings

1 to reward
2 to compensate
3 to repay
4 to respond (in poetry exchange)

Characters

酬

chóu

to reward / to repay / to respond in kind

Examples

HSK 7-9

他以厚礼相酬，表达谢意。

Tā yǐ hòulǐ xiāng chóu, biǎodá xièyì.

He rewarded with generous gifts to express his gratitude.

HSK 7-9

两位诗人互相唱酬，留下佳作。

Liǎng wèi shīrén hùxiāng chàng chóu, liúxià jiāzuò.

The two poets exchanged verses with each other, leaving behind fine works.

Tips

usage

酬 rarely appears alone in modern Chinese. It is most common in compounds: 报酬 (reward/compensation), 酬谢 (to thank with a gift), 酬劳 (remuneration), 应酬 (social engagement/wining and dining).

Components

radical

酉 yǒu

wine vessel; 10th earthly branch

Left-side wine-jar radical - a pictograph of an amphora with a narrow neck and wide belly, the vessel used to ferment and store wine. Indexes 酬 in the wine and reciprocity family alongside 酒 alcohol, 醉 drunk, 酱 fermented sauce. The original 酬 was the host's return toast - wine for wine.

phonetic

州 zhōu

prefecture; sandbar

Right side 州 supplies the sound: zhōu drifted to chóu via a regular zh/ch alternation. 州 itself depicts three sandbars in a river - imagery that doesn't transfer here. Modern 酬 keeps the wine-toast root but the meaning has stretched to cover every form of repayment, from a host's reply to a worker's wage.