絮 (xù) — (bound form) cotton wadding, fluff; (bound form) to wad or pad with cotton; (bound form) long-winded, nagging
Definition
絮 is a bound form rarely used alone: it means cotton wadding (cotton fluff used as padding) and, by extension, 'long-winded, wordy' — as in 絮叨 (nagging, repetitive). It typically attaches to another character, e.g. 棉絮, 絮叨, 絮语.
bound form
cotton waddingfluffto wad or pad with cottonlong-windednagging
Examples
- 。Zhè jiàn mián yī de mián xù dōu lù chū lái le.The cotton wadding of this padded jacket is all showing.
- ，。Tā shuō huà hěn xù dao, yí jiàn shì néng shuō bàn tiān.She is very long-winded; she can talk about one thing for half a day.
- 絮，。Mā ma zhèng zài xù mián bèi, zhǔn bèi guò dōng.Mom is wadding the quilt with cotton to prepare for winter.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
如
如rú絮xù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
絮 pairs 糸, a silk-related part, with 如, which gives the sound rú.
Appears in
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