准 (zhǔn): accurate

Meanings

1 accurate
2 standard
3 to allow
4 to permit

Characters

准

zhǔn

accurate; to allow; standard

Contains the ice radical 冫, though the connection to cold is historical rather than semantic.

Examples

你的表准吗？

Nǐ de biǎo zhǔn ma?

Is your watch accurate?

他说的很准。

Tā shuō de hěn zhǔn.

What he said was very accurate.

准你明天请假。

Zhǔn nǐ míngtiān qǐngjià.

You're allowed to take leave tomorrow.

Tips

usage

准 has two main uses: as an adjective meaning 'accurate/precise' (准确, zhǔnquè), and as a verb meaning 'to allow/permit' (批准, pīzhǔn, to approve). Don't confuse with 准备 (zhǔnbèi, to prepare).

Components

radical

冫 bīng

ice (two-stroke)

Left ice radical, two short strokes representing ice crystals - the abbreviated form of 冰. In simplified 准 (from traditional 準) the original water radical 氵 was reduced to 冫. It supplies the meaning: a perfectly level water surface, the standard against which everything else is measured. From 'water level' came the modern senses 'accurate, exact, standard, to permit'.

phonetic

隹 zhuī

short-tailed bird

Right 隹 supplies the sound - zhuī shifted to zhǔn, with regular -uī/-ǔn rime alternation in this Old Chinese series. 隹 itself pictures a stubby-tailed bird (a sparrow, finch). The bird-imagery is incidental here; 隹 is read for phonetic value. Same series: 准, 谁, 推, all sharing the 隹 phonetic skeleton.