丛中 (cóng zhōng) — in the thicket; among the bushes

Definition

A literary locative noun meaning 'in/among the thicket' — almost always appears in set phrases like 百花丛中, not in everyday speech. English speakers often translate it more freely as 'amid (a group of).'

noun
in the thicketamong the bushes
Easily confused

Examples

  • 丛中。
    Tā zài cóng zhōng fā xiàn le yì zhī xiǎo tù zi.
    He found a little rabbit in the thicket.
  • 丛中。
    Cóng cóng zhōng chuán lái le yí zhèn niǎo jiào shēng.
    From the thicket came a burst of bird calls.
  • 丛中，。
    Tā men chuān guò cóng zhōng, lái dào le yí piàn kòng dì.
    They passed through the thicket and came to a clearing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

丛cóngthicket
中zhōnginside

“丛” (thicket) with “中” (inside) gives among the bushes.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 叢; 丛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丵丵zhuó
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ叢cóng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 叢 for 丛 combines 丵 with 取, where 取 gives the sound.

Open 丛 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

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