祝 (zhù): to pray for, to wish (sb bon voyage, happy birthday etc), person who invokes the spirits during sacrificial ceremonies
祝 (zhù) is a Chinese character meaning “to pray for.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 礻 (structural) and 兄 (structural). It ranks #1639 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 祝 a person 兄 praying before an altar 礻. Its radical form 礻 (spirit) appears in many related characters such as 票 (piào, ticket), 视 (shì, (literary, or bound form) to look at), 示 (shì, to show).
Definitions
- to pray for
- to wish (sb bon voyage, happy birthday etc)
- person who invokes the spirits during sacrificial ceremonies
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 兄 praying before an altar 礻
Decomposition: ⿰礻兄 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 祝 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 祝
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 庆祝verb | qìng zhù | to celebrate | 4 |
| 祝贺verb | zhù hè | to congratulate | 4 |
| 祝福verb | zhù fú | blessings | 6 |
| 祝愿verb | zhù yuàn | to wish | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祝酒词 | zhù jiǔ cí | short speech given in proposing a toast |
| 祝酒noun | zhù jiǔ | to drink a toast |
| 庆祝会 | qìng zhù huì | celebration |
| 祝酒辞 | zhù jiǔ cí | short speech given in proposing a toast |
| 预祝verb | yù zhù | to wish sb (success, bon voyage etc) |
| 祝寿verb | zhù shòu | to offer birthday congratulations (to an elderly person) |
| 恭祝verb | gōng zhù | to congratulate respectfully |
| 敬祝verb | jìng zhù | to offer humbly (written at the end of letter to sb of higher status) |
| 遥祝verb | yáo zhù | to send good wishes from afar |
| 天祝藏族自治县proper-noun | tiān zhù zàng zú zì zhì xiàn | Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, in Wuwei City 武威市, Gansu |
| 祝发 | zhù fà | to cut one's hair (as part of a minority ritual or in order to become a monk) |
| 祝好interjection | zhù hǎo | wish you all the best! (when signing off on a correspondence) |
| 天祝proper-noun | tiān zhù | see 天祝藏族自治縣|天祝藏族自治县 |
| 梁山伯与祝英台proper-noun | liáng shān bó yǔ zhù yīng tái | The Butterfly Lovers, Chinese folktale of the tragic love between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai |
| 天祝县 | tiān zhù xiàn | see 天祝藏族自治縣|天祝藏族自治县 |
祝 appears in 32 compound words: 53 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 13 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 祝 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
祝你生日快乐，愿你梦想成真！
Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè, yuàn nǐ mèngxiǎng chéng zhēn!
Happy birthday to you, may your dreams come true!
上观时评|“马上”体祝福里的民生期盼·新世说
shàng guàn shí píng mǎ shàng tǐ zhù fú lǐ de mín shēng qī pàn xīn shì shuō
Shangguan Commentary|" Immediately, "the people's livelihood expectations in the blessing of the new world said
中外交流|塞尔维亚举行系列新春庙会活动庆祝中国年
zhōng wài jiāo liú sāi ěr wéi yà jǔ háng xì liè xīn chūn miào huì huó dòng qìng zhù zhōng guó nián
Sino-Foreign Exchange|Serbia celebrates Chinese New Year with a series of Lunar New Year temple festivals
...空间站的年夜饭都有什么?听航天员报菜名收祝福
. . . kōng jiān zhàn de nián yè fàn dū yǒu shén má ? yǐn háng tiān yuán bào cài míng shōu zhù fú
What's on the menu for the space station's New Year's Eve dinner? Listen as astronauts list the dishes and send their blessings.
一路走来,到了春节!上海静安祝您龙马精神、马到成功..
yī lù zǒu lái , dào le chūn jié ! shǎng hǎi jìng ān zhù nín lóng mǎ jīng shén mǎ dào chéng gōng . .
The journey has brought us to the Spring Festival! Shanghai Jing'an wishes you boundless energy and instant success.
子弟兵给您送祝福啦,快来签收!
zǐ dì bīng gěi nín sòng zhù fú lā , kuài lái qiān shōu !
Our troops are sending you blessings—come sign for them!
祝今晚首演顺利，成功！
Zhù jīnwǎn shǒuyǎn shùnlì, chénggōng!
Good luck with tonight's performance!
祝各位高中统考顺利！
Zhù gèwèi gāozhōng tǒngkǎo shùnlì!
I am wishing every high school student good luck on their exams!
祝你们婚姻长长久久、永浴爱河。
Zhù nǐmen hūnyīn cháng chángjiǔ jiǔ, yǒng yù àihé.
I wish you a long and happy married life.
庆祝春节俗称过年。
Qìngzhù Chūnjié súchēng guònián.
Celebrating Spring Festival is commonly referred to as 'passing the year'.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 祝 (zhù) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 祝 have?
What is the radical of 祝?
What are the components of 祝?
What are common words containing 祝?
What characters sound the same as 祝 (zhù)?
Is 祝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 祝 with real-time feedback
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