靴 (xuē): boot; boots

Measure Word

一双靴 shuāng

Meanings

1 boot; boots

Characters

靴

xuē

boot; boots

Examples

冬天我喜欢穿靴子。

Dōngtiān wǒ xǐhuan chuān xuēzi.

I like wearing boots in winter.

她买了一双新的皮靴。

Tā mǎi le yī shuāng xīn de píxuē.

She bought a new pair of leather boots.

把靴子脱了再进来。

Bǎ xuēzi tuō le zài jìnlái.

Take off your boots before coming in.

Tips

usage

靴 is usually used in compounds: 靴子 (xuēzi, boots), 马靴 (mǎxuē, riding boots), 皮靴 (píxuē, leather boots), 雨靴 (yǔxuē, rain boots), 长靴 (chángxuē, tall boots).

Components

radical

革 gé

leather; hide

Left leather radical — originally a stretched animal skin with head, body, and tail visible. Carries the meaning: 靴 is a boot, traditionally fashioned from tanned hide. Indexes the character in the leather-goods family alongside 鞋 shoe, 鞭 whip, 鞍 saddle, 鞠 leather ball.

phonetic

化 huà

to transform (here phonetic)

Right side 化 supplies the sound — huà drifting to xuē along an old labial-velar alternation. The 'transform' meaning is not active; 化 is purely a sound tag here. Same phonetic family includes 花 flower, 货 goods, 华 splendor — a broad huà cluster carrying various tone branches.