铸

鑄
zhù
verb #17,847

Meanings

  1. 1 to cast (metals)
  2. 2 to forge
  3. 3 to found

Examples

HSK 6
Yī bù zǒu cuò, zhùchéng dà cuò.
One wrong step leads to a grave mistake.
HSK 7-9
Gǔrén yòng tóng zhùzào qiánbì.
Ancient people cast coins from bronze.

Tips

usage
铸 often appears in the idiom 铸成大错 (to make an irreversible mistake) - literally 'to cast a great error,' as cast metal cannot be easily undone.

Components

radical
钅 jīn
metal (radical form of 金)
Metal radical on the left - the side-form of 金, the indexing radical. Casting is the original metalworking act: molten bronze poured into a mould. The radical anchors 铸 in the metallurgy family with 锻 (forge), 银 (silver), 铜 (copper).
phonetic
寿 shòu
longevity
Right side 寿 is the simplified form supplying the sound (shòu to zhù with onset shift). The traditional 鑄 had a fuller 壽 phonetic on the right, depicting the long, winding act of pouring metal - and casting a great bell was once seen as a way of fixing fame to outlast the maker, an early link between 'cast' and 'longevity'.

Stroke Order

铸 zhù