纯

純
chún
adjective HSK 6 #4,261

Meanings

  1. 1 pure; unmixed
  2. 2 simple; genuine; sheer

Characters

Contains the silk radical 纟, originally referring to undyed, pure silk.

Examples

HSK 4
Tā de xīn hěn chún.
Her heart is very pure.
HSK 6
Zhè shì chún mián de yīfu.
This is a pure cotton garment.
HSK 7-9
Zhè chún shì qiǎohé.
This is purely a coincidence.

Tips

usage
纯 can be used as an adverb meaning 'purely/simply': 纯是开玩笑 = just joking. Common compounds: 纯洁 (pure/innocent), 纯粹 (sheer/pure), 单纯 (simple-minded/naive).

Components

radical
纟 sī
silk; thread (radical form)
Left silk radical - simplified 3-stroke form of 糸/絲, a hank of twisted silk. The indexing radical here. Pure unmixed silk was the prototype for 'pure', so the meaning is literal. Same radical heads 红, 线, 织, 纱 - the silk and textile family.
phonetic
屯 tún
sprout pushing up; encampment
Right component supplies the sound (tún → chún, a regular old-Chinese palatalization across the same dental series). 屯 itself depicts a sprout pushing up through hard ground - fresh and unmixed - which doubles as a faint semantic echo of 'pure'. Same phonetic in 顿, 钝, 沌, 囤.

Stroke Order

纯 chún