纱 (shā): cotton yarn, muslin

纱 (shā) is a Chinese character meaning “cotton yarn.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 少 (phonetic). It ranks #2352 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 纱 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lěi, to accumulate), 绍 (shào, to continue).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 纟 silk7 strokesFrequency #2352纟 semantic 少 phonetic

Definitions

cotton yarn
muslin

Etymology & Origin

纱

pictophoneticthread

Decomposition: ⿰纟少 (layout: left-right)

Components:纟semantic 少phonetic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
婚纱	hūn shā	wedding dress
面纱	miàn shā	veil
纱布	shā bù	gauze
纱线	shā xiàn	yarn
泡泡纱	pào pào shā	seersucker (cotton cloth with pattern of dimples)
黑纱	hēi shā	black armband
棉纱	mián shā	cotton yarn
乌纱帽	wū shā mào	black gauze hat (worn by an imperial official as a sign of his position)
纺纱	fǎng shā	to spin (cotton, wool etc)
纱窗	shā chuāng	screen window
纱笼	shā lóng	(loanword) sarong
神秘面纱	shén mì miàn shā	veil of mystery
透明硬纱	tòu míng yìng shā	organza (fabric)
经纱	jīng shā	warp (vertical thread in weaving)
纱布口罩	shā bù kǒu zhào	gauze mask

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

纱 appears in 33 compound words: 33 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 12 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 纱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

纺fǎng

0.6322,088 co-occurrences

厂hǎn

0.5694,602 co-occurrences

帽mào

0.5221,242 co-occurrences

棉mián

0.514930 co-occurrences

橱chú

0.45054 co-occurrences

婚hūn

0.4251,560 co-occurrences

帐zhàng

0.419144 co-occurrences

纬wěi

0.417264 co-occurrences

贮zhù

0.41372 co-occurrences

绸chóu

0.41184 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们纱字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men shā zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "纱."

SmzdmMar 2026

僧侣*面纱深陷其中精酿啤酒

sēng lǚ miàn shā shēn xiàn qí zhōng jīng niàng pí jiǔ

The Beijing NewsMar 2026

北京婚纱摄影哪家好?2026年多维评测:从风格到...

běi jīng hūn shā shè yǐng nǎ jiā hǎo ? 2 0 2 6 nián duō wéi píng cè : cóng fēng gé dào . . .

Which Wedding Photography Studio in Beijing Is the Best? 2026 Multi-Dimensional Review: From Style to...

Hk01.comFeb 2026

黄婉恩重回单身后衣着更大胆穿吊带薄纱裙海边大晒凹凸有致身材

huáng wǎn ēn chóng huí dān shēn hòu yī zhe gēng dà dǎn chuān diào dài báo shā qún hǎi biān dà shài āo tū yǒu zhì shēn cái

After Huang Wanen returned to being single, she dressed more boldly, wearing a suspender tulle skirt, and a sunny figure on the beach

Hk01.comFeb 2026

尖沙咀婚纱店火警|灾后一片狼藉婚纱焚毁模特儿公仔...

jiān shā jǔ hūn shā diàn huǒ jǐng zāi hòu yī piàn láng 藉 hūn shā fén huǐ mó tè ér gōng zǐ . . .

Tsim Sha Tsui Bridal Shop Fire|After the disaster, a mess of wedding dresses was burned Model dolls...

Tatoeba

今天我们来揭开英文虚拟式的神秘面纱。

Jīntiān wǒmen lái jiēkāi Yīngwén xūnǐ shì de shénmì miànshā.

Today, we are going to unravel the mystery of the English subjunctive.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 纱 (shā) mean in Chinese?

纱 (shā) primarily means "cotton yarn." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2352 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 纱 and 炒?

纱 (shā) and 炒 (chǎo) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 纟 vs 火 (same 少 component).

How many strokes does 纱 have?

纱 is written with 7 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 纱?

The radical associated with 纱 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.

What are the components of 纱?

纱 is composed of: 纟 (semantic), 少 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰纟少 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 纱?

Common words with 纱 include: 婚纱 (hūn shā, "wedding dress"); 面纱 (miàn shā, "veil"); 纱布 (shā bù, "gauze"); 纱线 (shā xiàn, "yarn"); 泡泡纱 (pào pào shā, "seersucker (cotton cloth with pattern of dimples)"). There are over 33 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 纱 (shā)?

Several characters share the pronunciation shā: 沙 (granule), 杀 (to kill), 砂 (sand). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 纱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 纱 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 纱 with real-time feedback

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