绸 (chóu): (light) silk, CL:匹

绸 (chóu) is a Chinese character meaning “(light) silk.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 周 (phonetic). It ranks #2515 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 绸 silk. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lèi, tired), 绍 (shào, to continue).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (light) silk
  2. CL:匹

Etymology & Origin

绸

pictophoneticsilk

Decomposition: ⿰纟周 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Practice writing 绸 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
丝绸nounsī chóusilk (cloth)
未雨绸缪phrasewèi yǔ chóu móulit. before it rains, bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 詩經|诗经)
绸缎nounchóu duànsatin
塔夫绸nountǎ fū chóutaffeta
绸子nounchóu zisilk fabric
丝绸之路proper-nounsī chóu zhī lùthe Silk Road
丝绸织物sī chóu zhī wùsilk fabric
丝绸古路sī chóu gǔ lùthe ancient Silk Road
府绸nounfǔ chóupoplin (cotton cloth used for shirts)
绫罗绸缎phraselíng luó chóu duàn(idiom) silk and satin
薄绸báo chóulight silk
绸缪adjectivechóu móuto be sentimentally attached to sb or sth
绵绸mián chóurough-textured fabric of waste silk
13
Total compounds
23
As first character
38
As last character
38
As middle character

绸 appears in 13 compound words: 23 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 绸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

丝sī
0.7114,250 co-occurrences
纺fǎng
0.43668 co-occurrences
绣xiù
0.41234 co-occurrences
棉mián
0.40776 co-occurrences
纱shā
0.40528 co-occurrences
路lù
0.3891,718 co-occurrences
绒róng
0.37820 co-occurrences
杭háng
0.37786 co-occurrences
衬chèn
0.37514 co-occurrences
之zhī
0.3631,752 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

丝绸之路Sīchóu zhī LùHSK 7+

Silk Road

未雨绸缪wèiyǔchóumóu

to plan ahead; to prepare before it is too late; to take precautions

phrase
绫罗绸缎língluóchóuduànHSK 7+

silks and satins

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了绸字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le chóu zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "silk" in the dictionary.

爱范儿Aug 2026

屏幕会变,界面也不能刻舟求剑 操作系统本身,也在为更自由的屏幕形态未雨绸缪。

bǐng mù huì biàn , jiè miàn yě bù néng kè zhōu qiú jiàn cāo zuò xì tǒng běn shēn , yě zài wéi gēng zì yóu de bǐng mù xíng tài wèi yǔ chóu 缪 .

Screens are evolving, and user interfaces can’t cling to outdated models. Operating systems themselves are also preparing for more flexible screen formats.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

南安市 南安市位于福建省泉州市,与台湾岛隔海相望,是“海上丝绸之路”的起点。

nán ān shì nán ān shì wèi yú fú jiàn shěng quán zhōu shì , yǔ tái wān dǎo gé hǎi xiāng wàng , shì hǎi shàng sī chóu zhī lù de qǐ diǎn .

Nan'an City: Nan'an City is located in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. It lies across the sea from Taiwan Island and is the starting point of the "Maritime Silk Road."

中国新闻网·体育Aug 2026

比赛前,赛马手们身着彩绸衣裤,一字排开。

bǐ sài qián , sài mǎ shǒu men shēn zhe cǎi chóu yī kù , yī zì pái kāi .

Before the race, the jockeys, dressed in colorful silk robes and pants, lined up in a row.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

高昌和龟兹是丝绸之路上重要的交通枢纽,连通两地的咽喉要道便是银山道。

gāo chāng hé guī zī shì sī chóu zhī lù shàng chóng yāo de jiāo tōng shū niǔ , lián tōng liǎng dì de yān hóu yāo dào biàn shì yín shān dào .

Gaochang and Kucha were important transportation hubs along the Silk Road, and the Yinshan Road served as the vital artery connecting the two regions.

東方日報Mar 2026

家长客“未雨绸缪”买连约盘供子女未来居住 较高位平2成

jiā cháng kè wèi yǔ chóu 缪 mǎi lián yuē pán gōng zǐ nǚ wèi lái jū zhù jiào gāo wèi píng 2 chéng

Homebuyers are "planning ahead" by purchasing off-plan properties for their children's future housing needs, with prices 20% below peak levels.

Tatoeba

丝绸之路形成的初衷并非是贸易。

Sīchóuzhī Lù xíngchéng de chūzhōng bìngfēi shì màoyì.

The original purpose of the Silk Road was not for trade.

Tatoeba

她穿着华丽的丝绸服饰。

Tā chuān zhe huálì de sīchóu fúshì.

She was dressed in rich silks.

Tatoeba

丝绸是很珍贵的。

Sīchóu shì hěn zhēnguì de.

Silk is very precious.

Tatoeba

这个小孩穿着一件丝绸织成的肚兜.

Zhège xiǎohái chuān zhe yī jiàn sīchóu zhī chéng de dùdōu.

The child is wearing a belly-slip made of silk.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 纟 (silk) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced chóu

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 绸 (chóu) mean in Chinese?
绸 (chóu) primarily means "(light) silk." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2515 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 绸 and 调?
绸 (chóu) and 调 (diào) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 纟 vs 讠 (same 周 component).
How many strokes does 绸 have?
绸 is written with 11 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 绸?
The radical associated with 绸 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.
What are the components of 绸?
绸 is composed of: 纟 (semantic), 周 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰纟周 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 绸?
Common words with 绸 include: 丝绸 (sī chóu, "silk (cloth)"); 未雨绸缪 (wèi yǔ chóu móu, "lit. before it rains, bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 詩經|诗经)"); 绸缎 (chóu duàn, "satin"); 塔夫绸 (tǎ fū chóu, "taffeta"); 绸子 (chóu zi, "silk fabric"). There are over 13 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 绸 (chóu)?
Several characters share the pronunciation chóu: 稠 (dense), 抽 (to draw out), 仇 (hatred), 筹 (chip (in gambling)), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 绸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 绸 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 绸 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.