昼 (zhòu): daytime
昼 (zhòu) is a Chinese character meaning “daytime.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 尺 (structural) and 旦 (structural). It ranks #2526 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 昼 when the sun is a foot 尺 above the horizon 旦. Its radical form 日 (sun) appears in many related characters such as 日 (rì, sun, day), 早 (zǎo, early, morning), 时 (shí, time, hour).
Definitions
- daytime
Etymology & Origin
ideographicWhen the sun is a foot 尺 above the horizon 旦
Decomposition: ⿵尺旦 (layout: surround-from-top)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 昼 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 昼夜 | zhòu yè | day and night |
| 白昼 | bái zhòu | daytime |
| 昼夜平分点 | zhòu yè píng fēn diǎn | the equinox |
| 不分昼夜 | bù fēn zhòu yè | day and night |
| 昼行性 | zhòu xíng xìng | diurnality |
| 昼短夜长 | zhòu duǎn yè cháng | the winter days are short and the nights long (idiom) |
| 昼夜节律 | zhòu yè jié lǜ | circadian rhythm |
| 昼伏夜出 | zhòu fú yè chū | nocturnal |
| 夜行昼伏 | yè xíng zhòu fú | to travel at night and lie low by day (idiom) |
| 俾昼作夜 | bǐ zhòu zuò yè | to make day as night (idiom, from Book of Songs) |
| 俾夜作昼 | bǐ yè zuò zhòu | lit. to make night as day (idiom) |
| 卜昼卜夜 | bǔ zhòu bǔ yè | day and night (to toil, to abandon oneself to pleasure etc) |
| 宰予昼寝 | zǎi yǔ zhòu qǐn | Zai Yu sleeps by day (idiom) |
昼 appears in 13 compound words: 46 as the first character, 15 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 昼 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
Example Sentences
昼夜交替，四季轮回。
Zhòuyè jiāotì, sìjì lúnhuí.
Day and night alternate, seasons cycle.
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这段时间昼夜温差很大。
Zhè duàn shíjiān zhòuyè wēnchā hěn dà.
There is a large temperature difference between day and night during this period of time.
你这样不分昼夜地工作，将会伤害自己的健康。
Nǐ zhèyàng bùfēnzhòuyè de gōngzuò, jiānghuì shānghài zìjǐ de jiànkāng.
If you work day and night, you will lose your health.
春天白昼变长了。
Chūntiān báizhòu biàn cháng le.
In spring the days get longer.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 昼 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 昼 with real-time feedback
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