周 (zhōu): week

Meanings

1 week
2 cycle
3 all around

Characters

周

zhōu

week; cycle; all around; Zhou (dynasty/surname)

Examples

HSK 1

一周有七天。

Yī zhōu yǒu qī tiān.

A week has seven days.

HSK 1

下周见。

Xià zhōu jiàn.

See you next week.

HSK 4

他跑了操场一周。

Tā pǎo le cāochǎng yī zhōu.

He ran one lap around the field.

Tips

usage

周 and 星期 both mean 'week'. 周 is slightly more formal. Days of the week: 周一 (Monday) through 周日 (Sunday).

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth; small enclosure

Inner-bottom mouth radical - also 周's indexing radical (Kangxi #30). Carries the semantic anchor: the original sense was a fenced field (口 = small enclosure) holding grain in completeness. From 'all around' came 周围, 周末, 周朝 (Zhou dynasty), and the surname.

semantic

冂 jiōng

down-open frame

Outer frame 冂 - open at the bottom, outlining the boundary of the field/enclosure. Two strokes: left-falling + top-and-right-hook. Same frame appears in 用, 同, 网. The whole char is indexed under Kangxi #30 口 - the mouth-shape tucked at the base of the frame.

semantic

土 tǔ

earth; soil

Middle 土 - earth/ground inside the framed enclosure, completing the ancient picture of a planted field. Originally 周 showed grain on the soil within walled boundaries; the 土 is the cultivated land at the heart of 'completeness all around.'