簇 (cù): (bound form) to cluster, to pile up, cluster, pile, classifier for bunches, clusters, piles etc

簇 (cù) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to cluster.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 族 (phonetic). It ranks #2689 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 簇 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) to cluster
  2. to pile up
  3. cluster
  4. pile
  5. classifier for bunches, clusters, piles etc

Etymology & Origin

簇

pictophoneticbamboo

Decomposition: ⿱⺮族 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
簇拥verbcù yōngto crowd around
簇新adjectivecù xīnbrand-new
高维代数簇gāo wéi dài shù cù(math.) higher dimensional algebraic variety
抗原决定簇nounkàng yuán jué dìng cù(immunology) antigenic determinant
代数簇dài shù cùalgebraic variety (math.)
花团锦簇phrasehuā tuán jǐn cùbrightly colored decorations (idiom)
花簇nounhuā cùbunch of flowers
簇射cù shèshower (radiation, particle, etc)
簇茎石竹cù jīng shí zhúboreal carnation or northern pink
攒簇cuán cùto gather closely together
10
Total compounds
40
As first character
60
As last character
0
As middle character

簇 appears in 10 compound words: 40 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 0 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 簇 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

拥yōng
0.447275 co-occurrences
攒cuán
0.41512 co-occurrences
橡xiàng
0.39554 co-occurrences
朵duǒ
0.39176 co-occurrences
叶yè
0.370134 co-occurrences
晶jīng
0.368114 co-occurrences
花huā
0.364400 co-occurrences
锦jǐn
0.35672 co-occurrences
茎jīng
0.35116 co-occurrences
枝zhī
0.34964 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

花团锦簇huātuánjǐncùHSK 7+

a mass of rich and colorful decorations

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

簇字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。

cù zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .

The character "簇" has different usages in different contexts.

IT之家Aug 2026

团队研究了横场伊辛模型和团簇伊辛模型量子临界点的驱动动力学。

tuán duì yán jiū le héng chǎng yī xīn mó xíng hé tuán cù yī xīn mó xíng liàng zǐ lín jiè diǎn de qū dòng dòng lì xué .

The team studied the driving dynamics of quantum critical points in the transverse-field Ising model and the cluster Ising model.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

待到会议结束时,众人簇拥下的毛泽东,已经坐在了原本属于余洒度的位置。

dài dào huì yì jié shù shí , zhòng rén cù yōng xià de máo zé dōng , yǐ jīng zuò zài le yuán běn shǔ yú yú sǎ dù de wèi zhì .

By the time the meeting ended, Mao Zedong—surrounded by the crowd—was already seated in the spot that had originally belonged to Yu Shadu.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

这场名为“花团锦簇”的服饰大秀,由苗族设计师、贵州“村T”发起人杨春林策划。

zhè chǎng míng wéi huā tuán jǐn cù de fú shì dà xiù , yóu miáo zú shè jì shī , guì zhōu cūn T fā qǐ rén yáng chūn lín cè huá .

This fashion show, titled “A Blossom of Splendor,” was curated by Yang Chunlin, a Miao designer and founder of Guizhou’s “Cun T.”

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

在广西柳州市主城区的多处路段,路边的树上挂满了圆球状的果实,一簇簇格外显眼。

zài guǎng xī liǔ zhōu shì zhǔ chéng qū de duō chǔ lù duàn , lù biān de shù shàng guà mǎn le yuán qiú zhuàng de guǒ shí , yī cù cù gé wài xiǎn yǎn .

In several areas of the central district of Liuzhou, Guangxi, the trees along the roadsides are covered with spherical fruits that stand out in clusters.

Hk01.comFeb 2026

爱泼斯坦案|惊现霍金被比坚尼女郎簇拥照 遗属称是其护理

ài pō sī tǎn àn jīng xiàn huò jīn bèi bǐ jiān ní nǚ láng cù yōng zhào yí shǔ chèn shì qí hù lǐ

Epstein case|Shocking photo of Hawking being surrounded by bikini girls, the bereaved family said it was his care

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced cù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 簇 (cù) mean in Chinese?
簇 (cù) primarily means "(bound form) to cluster." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2689 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 簇 and 下?
簇 (cù) and 下 (xià) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 簇 (up) vs 下 (down).
How many strokes does 簇 have?
簇 is written with 17 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 簇?
The radical associated with 簇 is 竹 (bamboo). This radical appears in many characters related to bamboo.
What are the components of 簇?
簇 is composed of: ⺮ (semantic), 族 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⺮族 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 簇?
Common words with 簇 include: 簇拥 (cù yōng, "to crowd around"); 簇新 (cù xīn, "brand-new"); 高维代数簇 (gāo wéi dài shù cù, "(math.) higher dimensional algebraic variety"); 抗原决定簇 (kàng yuán jué dìng cù, "(immunology) antigenic determinant"); 代数簇 (dài shù cù, "algebraic variety (math.)"). There are over 10 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 簇 (cù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation cù: 促 ((bound form) of short duration), 粗 ((of sth long) wide), 醋 (vinegar). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 簇 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 簇 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 簇 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.