绸 (chóu): silk (light, plain-weave silk f…

Measure Word

一匹绸 pǐ

Meanings

1 silk (light, plain-weave silk fabric)
2 thin silk

Characters

绸

chóu

silk fabric

Examples

她穿着一件淡蓝色的丝绸旗袍。

Tā chuānzhe yī jiàn dàn lánsè de sīchóu qípáo.

She wore a pale blue silk qipao.

苏州自古以丝绸闻名于世。

Sūzhōu zìgǔ yǐ sīchóu wénmíngyúshì.

Suzhou has been world-renowned for silk since ancient times.

Tips

usage

On its own 绸 is rarely used in modern speech — it appears in compounds: 丝绸 (sīchóu, silk), 丝绸之路 (Sīchóu Zhī Lù, the Silk Road), 绸缎 (chóuduàn, silks and satins). 绸 specifically means lighter plain-weave silk, while 缎 (duàn) is heavier satin.

history

Silk is one of China's oldest exports — the 丝绸之路 (Silk Road), opened in the Han dynasty by 张骞 (Zhang Qian), carried Chinese 绸 west to Rome, where it commanded prices equal to gold.

Components

radical

纟 sī

silk (radical form of 糸)

Left silk radical — the simplified side-form of 糸, originally a twisted skein of silk threads. Indexes 绸 in the textile family with 红 red (dyed cloth), 线 thread, 绿 green, 织 to weave, 缎 satin. Anchors the meaning: 绸 is a specific grade of plain-weave silk fabric.

phonetic

周 zhōu

circle; week; surname Zhou

Right 周 supplies the sound — zhōu drifting to chóu via zh/ch palatal alternation. Same phonetic in 调 to adjust, 雕 to carve. 周's core image of 'going around, encircling' reinforces a faint visual hook: silk thread wound around a spool, layer over layer, until the bolt is complete.