niǔ
noun #8,872

Meanings

  1. 1 knob; button; tie; bond
  2. 2 hub; pivot; link

Examples

Niǔyuē shì Měiguó zuì dà de chéngshì.
New York is the largest city in the United States.
Zhè shì liánjiē liǎng guó de zhòngyào niǔdài.
This is an important bond connecting the two countries.

Tips

usage
rarely appears alone — it's almost always part of a compound: 纽约 (New York), 纽带 (bond/link), 纽扣 (button), 枢纽 (hub/pivot). The core meaning is something that ties or connects.

Components

radical
silk thread (left-side form)
is the silk radical in left-side form. It marks as a thread-and-cord word, grouping it with (knot), (rope), and (tie) — buttons and toggles all began as knotted cord.
phonetic
chǒu
second earthly branch; ugly
supplies the reading, shifting from chǒu to niǔ along an old initial pair. The same phonetic surfaces in (twist) and (knob), all clustered around the niu/chou syllable family with senses of turning or twisting.

In Pop Culture

纽约 Niǔyuē
New York
largest U.S. city — 纽 transliterates 'New'
西 Niǔ xī lán
New Zealand
country — Taiwan spelling, mainland uses 新西兰

Stroke Order

niǔ