蛛 (zhū): spider (in 蜘蛛)

蛛 (zhū) is a Chinese character meaning “spider (in 蜘蛛).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 虫 (semantic) and 朱 (phonetic). It ranks #2965 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 蛛 insect. Its radical form 虫 (insect) appears in many related characters such as 虫 (chóng, insect), 蜘 (zhī, spider (in 蜘蛛)), 蜂 (fēng, bee).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 虫 insect12 strokesFrequency #2965虫 semantic 朱 phonetic

Definitions

spider (in 蜘蛛)

Etymology & Origin

蛛

pictophoneticinsect

Decomposition: ⿰虫朱 (layout: left-right)

Components:虫semantic 朱phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 蛛 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
蜘蛛	zhī zhū	spider
蛛丝马迹	zhū sī mǎ jì	lit. spider's thread and horse track
蜘蛛网	zhī zhū wǎng	cobweb
蛛网	zhū wǎng	spider web
蛛蛛	zhū zhu	(coll.) spider
长嘴捕蛛鸟	cháng zuǐ bǔ zhū niǎo	(bird species of China) little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra)
纹背捕蛛鸟	wén bèi bǔ zhū niǎo	(bird species of China) streaked spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna)
红背蜘蛛	hóng bèi zhī zhū	redback spider
捕鸟蛛	bǔ niǎo zhū	tarantula
蜘蛛星云	zhī zhū xīng yún	Tarantula Nebula
蛛形纲	zhū xíng gāng	Arachnids (class of arthropods)
跳蛛	tiào zhū	jumping spider
蜘蛛人	zhī zhū rén	(coll.) rope access technician
蜘蛛类	zhī zhū lèi	arachnid
鼠蛛	shǔ zhū	mouse spider (genus Missulena)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

蛛 appears in 20 compound words: 20 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 40 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 蛛 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

蜘zhī

0.94751,874 co-occurrences

侠xiá

0.6003,432 co-occurrences

蟹xiè

0.460738 co-occurrences

咬yǎo

0.425492 co-occurrences

狼láng

0.4251,086 co-occurrences

膜mó

0.420882 co-occurrences

丝sī

0.408876 co-occurrences

猴hóu

0.403444 co-occurrences

抱bào

0.395756 co-occurrences

雌cí

0.378522 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

蛛丝马迹zhūsīmǎjìHSK 7+

clue; trace; tiny hints

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

蛛丝虽然很细，但强度却比同样粗细的钢丝还大。

Zhū sī suīrán hěn xì, dàn qiángdù què bǐ tóngyàng cūxì de gāngsī hái dà.

Although spider silk is very thin, its strength is greater than steel wire of the same thickness.

SmzdmMar 2026

...opark AMK 变形金刚 G1 红蜘蛛

. . . o p a r k A M K biàn xíng jīn gāng G 1 hóng zhī zhū

三立新聞網Mar 2026

千黛亚和蜘蛛人大聊假老公喊:很不一样

qiān 黛 yà hé zhī zhū rén dà liáo jiǎ lǎo gōng hǎn : hěn bù yī yàng

Qian Daiya and Spider-Man chat about fake husbands, exclaiming, "It's very different."

HketMar 2026

蜘蛛侠4—汤贺兰《蜘蛛侠:英雄重生》首辑预告...

zhī zhū xiá 4 — tāng hè lán zhī zhū xiá : yīng xióng chóng shēng shǒu jí yù gào . . .

Spider-Man 4—Tang Helan's First Trailer for *Spider-Man: Homecoming*...

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 蛛 (zhū) mean in Chinese?

蛛 (zhū) primarily means "spider (in 蜘蛛)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2965 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 蛛 and 殊?

蛛 (zhū) and 殊 (shū) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 虫 vs 歹 (same 朱 component).

How many strokes does 蛛 have?

蛛 is written with 12 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 蛛?

The radical associated with 蛛 is 虫 (insect). This radical appears in many characters related to insect.

What are the components of 蛛?

蛛 is composed of: 虫 (semantic), 朱 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰虫朱 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 蛛?

Common words with 蛛 include: 蜘蛛 (zhī zhū, "spider"); 蛛丝马迹 (zhū sī mǎ jì, "lit. spider's thread and horse track"); 蜘蛛网 (zhī zhū wǎng, "cobweb"); 蛛网 (zhū wǎng, "spider web"); 蛛蛛 (zhū zhu, "(coll.) spider"). There are over 20 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 蛛 (zhū)?

Several characters share the pronunciation zhū: 株 (tree trunk), 珠 (bead), 朱 (vermilion), 猪 (hog), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 蛛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 蛛 with real-time feedback

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