cuì
noun #11,781

Meanings

  1. 1 bluish-green
  2. 2 green jade
  3. 3 jadeite

Examples

HSK 4
翠玉
Tā dài zhe yī kuài cuìyù.
She is wearing a piece of green jade.
HSK 7-9
Shānshàng de shùmù cuìlǜ yù dī.
The trees on the mountain are lush and verdant.

Tips

usage
often appears in compound words related to green/jade colors, such as 翠绿 (emerald green) and 翡翠 (jadeite).

Components

radical
feather; plume (Kangxi #124)
Top - pictograph of paired bird feathers, the indexing radical. originally named the kingfisher, prized for its brilliant green plumage; later it broadened to the colour itself (jade-green) and to green jade. The feather radical anchors a bird-of-a-particular-colour, still alive in 翠鸟 (kingfisher).
phonetic
soldier
Bottom supplies the sound - zú → cuì through z/c alternation, paired alveolar fricatives. The 'soldier' meaning has no role here; phonetic loan. Same phonetic feeds (gather), (haggard), (pure), (drunk) - tight family of cuì-/zú-readings.

Stroke Order

cuì