chú
noun #3,648

Meanings

  1. 1 kitchen
  2. 2 cook; chef

Examples

HSK 2
Chúfáng lǐ hěn rè.
It's very hot in the kitchen.
HSK 2
Tā shì yī wèi dà chú.
He is a head chef.

Tips

usage
厨房 = kitchen. 厨师 = chef/cook. 大厨 = head chef.

Components

radical
chǎng
cliff; factory (radical form)
Cliff/shed radical (Kangxi 27) wrapping the upper-left - depicts an overhanging roof or rock-shelter. Marks as a sheltered space. Other shed-roof characters: plain, hall, calendar, detest. The kitchen is the sheltered cooking area of the home.
phonetic
dòu
bean; sacrificial vessel
Inside the shed on the left - historically a stemmed sacrificial vessel pictogram, later borrowed for 'bean'. Provides part of the phonetic chú (via the older sound family of around dòu/chú). Faintly semantic too: a vessel inside the shed evokes cooking pots in a kitchen.
semantic
cùn
inch; hand-measure
Hand/inch element on the right - depicts a hand measuring at the wrist pulse. In the is the working hand of the cook, preparing food beside the vessel under the shed. Together: shed + vessel + working hand = kitchen.

Stroke Order

chú