鼠 (shǔ): rat; mouse

Meanings

1 rat; mouse
2 (Chinese zodiac) the Rat

Characters

鼠

shǔ

mouse; rat

Examples

他属鼠。

Tā shǔ shǔ.

He was born in the Year of the Rat.

鼠年是十二生肖的第一个。

Shǔ nián shì shí'èrshēngxiào de dìyī gè.

The Year of the Rat is the first of the twelve zodiac animals.

老鼠比鼠听起来更口语化。

Lǎoshǔ bǐ shǔ tīngqǐlái gèng kǒuyǔ huà.

'Laoshu' sounds more colloquial than 'shu.'

Tips

culture

The Rat (鼠) is the first of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals. According to legend, the rat won the race to the Jade Emperor by riding on the ox's back and jumping ahead at the finish. Rat years: 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984...

usage

In everyday speech, people say 老鼠 (lǎoshǔ) for mouse/rat. 鼠 alone is more literary/formal and commonly appears in compounds and the zodiac.

usage

老鼠 (lǎoshǔ) = mouse/rat (colloquial). 松鼠 (sōngshǔ) = squirrel. 仓鼠 (cāngshǔ) = hamster. 鼠年 (shǔ nián) = Year of the Rat.

Components

pictograph

鼠 shǔ

rat; mouse

Pictograph of a rat — the top 臼 is the gnawing teeth and bristled snout, the marks beneath are claws scratching at the ground, and the long tail trails off below. 鼠 is its own Kangxi radical (#208), heading a small family of rodent characters. Not analyzable into independent pieces; the whole shape is one stylised rat silhouette.

Radical

Rat Kangxi #208

Pictographic radical with the original graph showing teeth at the top, body in the middle, and tail trailing below. Indexes a small group of rodent species: 鼯 (flying squirrel), 鼬 (weasel), 鼹 (mole), 鼷 (small mouse). Modern Chinese typically forms rodent vocabulary by compounding 鼠 with another character (松鼠 squirrel, 仓鼠 hamster).