耦 (ǒu): a pair, a mate, a couple

耦 (ǒu) is a Chinese character meaning “a pair.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 耒 (semantic) and 禺 (phonetic). It ranks #4362 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 耦 plow. Its radical form 耒 (plow) appears in many related characters such as 耗 (hào, to waste), 耕 (gēng, to plow), 耘 (yún, to weed).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. a pair
  2. a mate
  3. a couple

Etymology & Origin

耦

pictophoneticplow

Decomposition: ⿰耒禺 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
耦合ǒu hécoupling (physics)
电荷耦合器件diàn hè ǒu hé qì jiàncharge-coupled device (CCD) (electronics)
光耦合器guāng ǒu hé qìoptocoupler (electronics)
齐大非耦qí dà fēi ǒuvariant of 齊大非偶|齐大非偶
电荷耦合diàn hè ǒu héelectric charge coupling
去耦qù ǒuto decouple
解耦verbjiě ǒudecoupling (electronics)
光耦guāng ǒuabbr. for 光耦合器
耦语ǒu yǔto have a tete-à-tete
耦居ǒu jūto live together (as husband and wife)
耦园ǒu yuánCouple's Retreat Garden in Suzhou, Jiangsu, one of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
怨耦yuàn ǒuvariant of 怨偶
匹耦pǐ ǒuvariant of 匹偶
13
Total compounds
31
As first character
46
As last character
23
As middle character

耦 appears in 13 compound words: 31 as the first character, 46 as the last, and 23 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

齐大非耦qí dà fēi ǒu

variant of 齊大非偶|齐大非偶

phrase

Example Sentences

IT之家Sep 2026

在常用工况下,电机可与车轮解耦断开,减少拖曳损耗,使百公里能耗进一步下降。

zài cháng yòng gōng kuàng xià , diàn jī kě yǔ chē lún jiě ǒu duàn kāi , jiǎn shǎo tuō 曳 sǔn hào , shǐ bǎi gōng lǐ néng hào jìn yī bù xià jiàng .

Under normal operating conditions, the motor can be decoupled from the wheels to reduce drag losses, further lowering energy consumption per 100 kilometers.

爱范儿Aug 2026

进入交叉轴或连续起伏路面以后,系统又能快速解耦,让左右车轮获得更独立的运动空间。

jìn rù jiāo chā zhóu huò lián xù qǐ fú lù miàn yǐ hòu , xì tǒng yòu néng kuài sù jiě ǒu , ràng zuǒ yòu chē lún huò dé gèng dú lì de yùn dòng kōng jiān .

When driving on cross-axle or undulating roads, the system can quickly decouple, allowing the left and right wheels greater freedom of movement.

爱范儿Aug 2026

模型与系统耦合得越紧,对模型智力本身的要求就越高。

mó xíng yǔ xì tǒng ǒu hé dé yuè jǐn , duì mó xíng zhì lì běn shēn de yào qiú jiù yuè gāo .

The tighter the coupling between the model and the system, the higher the demands on the model's intelligence.

IT之家Aug 2026

其中,训推一致至关重要,因推理与训练过程耦合,基础设施差异易放大不确定性。

qí zhōng , xùn tuī yī zhì zhì guān chóng yào , yīn tuī lǐ yǔ xùn liàn guò chéng ǒu hé , jī chǔ shè shī chā yì yì fàng dà bù què dìng xìng .

In this context, consistency between training and inference is crucial, as the inference and training processes are coupled, and differences in infrastructure can easily amplify uncertainty.

少数派Jul 2026

三个函数各自独立,互不耦合。

sān gè hán shǔ gè zì dú lì , hù bù ǒu hé .

The three functions are independent of one another and are not coupled.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 耒 (plow) component

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced ǒu

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 耦 (ǒu) mean in Chinese?
耦 (ǒu) primarily means "a pair." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4362 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 耦 and 遇?
耦 (ǒu) and 遇 (yù) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 耒 vs 辶 (same 禺 component).
How many strokes does 耦 have?
耦 is written with 15 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 耦?
The radical associated with 耦 is 耒 (plow). This radical appears in many characters related to plow.
What are the components of 耦?
耦 is composed of: 耒 (semantic), 禺 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰耒禺 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 耦?
Common words with 耦 include: 耦合 (ǒu hé, "coupling (physics)"); 电荷耦合器件 (diàn hè ǒu hé qì jiàn, "charge-coupled device (CCD) (electronics)"); 光耦合器 (guāng ǒu hé qì, "optocoupler (electronics)"); 齐大非耦 (qí dà fēi ǒu, "variant of 齊大非偶|齐大非偶"); 电荷耦合 (diàn hè ǒu hé, "electric charge coupling"). There are over 13 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 耦 (ǒu)?
Several characters share the pronunciation ǒu: 偶 (accidental). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 耦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 耦 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 耦 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.