窗

chuāng
noun HSK 4 #3,896

Meanings

  1. 1 window

Examples

HSK 1
Tā zuò zài chuāng qián kàn shū.
She is sitting by the window, reading.
HSK 4
Qǐng bǎ chuānghu dǎkāi.
Please open the window.

Tips

usage
Common compounds: 窗户 (window), 窗帘 (curtain), 窗台 (windowsill), 车窗 (car window), 窗口 (window/counter).

Components

radical
穴 xué
cave; hole (top radical)
Top 穴 - the cave/hollow radical, the indexing radical for 窗. Pictures a cave entrance or roofed pit dwelling. Anchors 窗 in the architectural-opening family alongside 空 (empty), 突 (sudden / abrupt opening), 穿 (pierce through). A window is, in essence, a deliberate hole made through a wall.
phonetic
囱 cōng
chimney; vent
Bottom 囱 - supplies the sound (cōng → chuāng, retroflexion shift) and reinforces meaning: 囱 itself is an old pictograph of a smoke vent in a roof. So 窗 layers 'opening under cover' (穴) over 'smoke-vent' (囱), giving the literal hole-in-the-wall picture of a window.

Stroke Order

窗 chuāng