轴 (zhóu): axis, axle, spool (for thread)
轴 (zhóu) is a Chinese character meaning “axis.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 车 (semantic) and 由 (phonetic). It ranks #2359 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 轴 wheel. Its radical form 车 (cart) appears in many related characters such as 车 (chē, vehicle), 轻 (qīng, light), 辆 (liàng, measure word for vehicles).
Definitions
- axis
- axle
- spool (for thread)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 轴 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 卷轴noun | juàn zhóu | scroll (book or painting) |
| 轴承noun | zhóu chéng | (mechanical) bearing |
| 车轴noun | chē zhóu | axle |
| 线轴noun | xiàn zhóu | thread spool |
| 轮轴noun | lún zhóu | wheel and axle (mechanism) |
| 压轴戏noun | yā zhòu xì | final and most important item on a program |
| 轴心noun | zhóu xīn | axle |
| 轴线noun | zhóu xiàn | central axis (line) |
| 连轴转phrase | lián zhóu zhuàn | (coll.) to work non-stop |
| 轴心国noun | zhóu xīn guó | Axis powers (World War II) |
| 转轴noun | zhuàn zhóu | axis of rotation |
| 曲轴noun | qū zhóu | crankshaft |
| 轴距 | zhóu jù | wheelbase |
| 主轴noun | zhǔ zhóu | axis |
| 传动轴 | chuán dòng zhóu | drive shaft |
轴 appears in 67 compound words: 21 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 24 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 轴 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
了解轴字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè zhóu zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "轴" (zhǔ) helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
...北市长战局生变?前立委曝赖清德将派“这压轴奇兵”死守蒋万安
. . . běi shì cháng zhàn jú shēng biàn ? qián lì wěi pù lài qīng dé jiāng pài zhè yā zhóu qí bīng sǐ shǒu 蒋 wàn ān
... The situation of the mayor of Beijing has changed? The former legislator revealed that Lai Qingde would send "this grand finale" to defend Jiang Wan'an
高雄冬日游乐园压轴登场 “大港青年防卫队”结合日本特摄美学
gāo xióng dōng rì yóu lè yuán yā zhóu dēng chǎng dà gǎng qīng nián fáng wèi duì jié gě rì běn tè shè měi xué
Kaohsiung Winter Amusement Park finale debut "Dagang Youth Defense Force" combined with Japanese tokusatsu aesthetics
...克球巡回赛赛程揭晓,香港大满贯赛将成为压轴赛事
. . . kè qiú xún huí sài sài chéng jiē xiǎo , xiāng gǎng dà mǎn guàn sài jiāng chéng wéi yā zhóu sài shì
... The schedule of the Croatian Tour has been announced, and the Hong Kong Grand Slam will be the finale
马年投资4主轴曝光 王春盛分析师这样说
mǎ nián tóu zī 4 zhǔ zhóu pù guāng wáng chūn shèng fēn xī shī zhè yàng shuō
The 4 main axes of investment in the Year of the Horse were exposed, and analyst Wang Chunsheng said so
地球每二十四小时就会绕轴自转一周。
Dìqiú měi èrshí sì xiǎoshí jiù huì rào zhóu zìzhuàn yīzhōu.
The earth revolves on its axis once every 24 hours.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 车 (wheel) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 轴 (zhóu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 轴 and 油?
How many strokes does 轴 have?
What is the radical of 轴?
What are the components of 轴?
What are common words containing 轴?
What characters sound the same as 轴 (zhóu)?
Is 轴 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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