触须 (chù xū) — tentacles; antennae; feelers; tendrils (of animals or plants)

Definition

noun
tentaclesantennaefeelerstendrils (of animals or plants)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 触须。
    Zhāng yú de chù xū hěn cháng.
    An octopus's tentacles are long.
  • 触须。
    Kūn chóng de chù xū néng gǎn jué sì zhōu de huán jìng.
    Insects' antennae can sense the surrounding environment.
  • 触须。
    Zhè zhǒng zhí wù de chù xū huì juǎn zhù bié de dōng xī.
    This plant's tendrils will coil around other things.

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.

触chùtouch
须xūwhisker

触 means touch and 须 means whisker or tendril, naming a feeler or antenna.

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 觸; 触 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
角角jiǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
蜀
蜀shǔ觸chù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 觸 uses 角 for the meaning and 蜀 for the sound; the simplified 触 is a later shorthand.

Open 触 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 須; 须 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 须 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (必须) it is 須; in others it is 鬚.

  • 彡彡shānhair
  • 頁頁yèhead

The traditional form 須 shows 頁 (head) with 彡 (hair) beside it, drawing a head with hair on the side, a picture of a beard or whiskers.

Open 须 →

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