咒 (zhòu) · curse, spell, incantation

Measure Word

一个咒 gè

Meanings

1 curse
2 spell
3 incantation

Examples

HSK 1

她对他下了一个咒。

Tā duì tā xià le yígè zhòu.

She put a curse on him.

HSK 7-9

和尚念了一段咒。

Héshang niàn le yī duàn zhòu.

The monk chanted an incantation.

Tips

usage

咒 can be a noun (curse/spell) or a verb (to curse). As a verb, 咒骂 means 'to curse at someone'. 咒语 means 'magic spell/incantation'.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Top-left mouth radical (Kangxi #30) - the open-mouth pictograph in compact top form. Together with the second 口 above it pictures two mouths chanting in unison. Indexes 咒 alongside the speech family: 唱 (sing), 吼 (roar), 喊 (shout). The doubling here is the key - one mouth speaks, two mouths cast spells.

semantic

口 kǒu

mouth (paired)

Top-right second mouth - the doubled 口口 above 几 represents repeated, ritualised speech. In ancient ritual a curse or incantation was spoken in pairs (call-and-response, or doubled emphasis); the duplication marks the speech as formulaic and binding rather than ordinary chatter. Same reduplication-for-intensity logic in 哭 (cry, with double 口) and 喧 (noisy).

semantic

几 jī

low table; kneeling figure

Bottom 几 - graphically a low altar or stool, but in 咒's history this is the residue of a kneeling figure (兄 'elder brother' in the oracle-bone form, depicting a person on their knees performing the rite). The compound ideograph as a whole: two mouths chanting over a kneeling figure = curse, spell, incantation.