钮 (niǔ): button

Measure Word

一颗钮 kē

Meanings

1 button
2 knob

Characters

钮

niǔ

button; knob

Examples

她的衬衫掉了一颗钮。

Tā de chènshān diào le yī kē niǔ.

A button fell off her shirt.

Tips

usage

钮 on its own is less common in modern Chinese than the compound 按钮 (push button) or 纽扣 (clothing button). As a surname it is written 钮 (Niǔ).

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal; gold (radical form of 金)

Left-side metal radical, the 5-stroke compressed form of 金. Indexes 钮 with everything cast or forged — 银 silver, 钢 steel, 钉 nail, 链 chain. Tells you immediately that the right side is naming a kind of metal fitting; here a button, knob, or hinge-knob.

phonetic

丑 chǒu

second earthly branch; ugly

Right 丑 supplies the sound — chǒu drifting to niǔ through the chr-/n- alternation visible across the same phonetic family (扭 to twist, 纽 knot, 妞 girl). The 'ugly / earthly branch' senses are unrelated; 丑 is a pure sound-tag pinning down the metal-knob reading.