遵 (zūn): to observe, to obey, to follow
遵 (zūn) is a Chinese character meaning “to observe.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (structural) and 尊 (structural). It ranks #1582 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 遵 to follow 辶 or honor 尊 someone; 尊 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).
Definitions
- to observe
- to obey
- to follow
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo follow 辶 or honor 尊 someone; 尊 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿺辶尊 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 遵 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 遵
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 遵命verb | zūn mìng | to follow your orders |
| 遵循verb | zūn xún | to follow |
| 遵从verb | zūn cóng | to comply with |
| 遵照verb | zūn zhào | in accordance with |
| 遵行verb | zūn xíng | to follow |
| 遵义会议 | zūn yì huì yì | Zunyi conference of January 1935 before the Long March |
| 遵化市 | zūn huà shì | Zunhua, a county-level city in Tangshan City 唐山市, Hebei |
| 遵义市 | zūn yì shì | Zunyi, prefecture-level city in Guizhou Province 貴州省|贵州省 |
| 遵化proper-noun | zūn huà | see 遵化市 |
| 遵义proper-noun | zūn yì | see 遵義市|遵义市 |
| 遵办 | zūn bàn | to handle in accordance with (the rules) |
| 遵令 | zūn lìng | to obey orders |
| 遵时养晦 | zūn shí yǎng huì | to bide one's time, waiting for an opportunity to stage a comeback in public life (idiom) |
| 黄遵宪 | huáng zūn xiàn | Huang Zunxian (1848-1905), Qing dynasty poet and diplomat, author of A Record of Japan 日本國誌|日本国志,... |
| 遵医嘱verb | zūn yī zhǔ | to follow the doctor's advice |
遵 appears in 20 compound words: 85 as the first character, 10 as the last, and 5 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 遵 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
遵字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
zūn zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "遵" has different usages in different contexts.
...关联旅监局巡查旅客购物热点 派传单吁商户遵守商品条例
. . . guān lián lǚ jiān jú xún chá lǚ kè gòu wù rè diǎn pài chuán dān xū shāng hù zūn shǒu shāng pǐn tiáo lì
...In collaboration with the Tourism and Attractions Authority, officials inspected popular shopping areas and distributed flyers urging merchants to comply with product regulations.
台东市忠合宫“什家将”恪遵传统68年不变 登录无形文化资产
tái dōng shì zhōng gě gōng shén jiā jiāng 恪 zūn chuán tǒng 6 8 nián bù biàn dēng lù wú xíng wén huà zī chǎn
Taitung City Zhonghe Palace "Shijia Jiang" abides by the tradition for 68 years and is registered as an intangible cultural asset
...tflix(NFLX.US)等串流平台 遵守传统广播规则
. . . t f l i x ( N F L X . U S ) děng chuàn liú píng tái zūn shǒu chuán tǒng guǎng bō guī zé
... tflix(NFLX. US) and other streaming platforms adhere to traditional broadcasting rules
黄友凤吁警遵循指示 勿以服装为由拒报案
huáng yǒu fèng xū jǐng zūn xún zhǐ shì wù yǐ fú zhuāng wéi yóu jù bào àn
Huang Youfeng called on the police to follow the instructions and not to refuse to report the case on the grounds of clothing
特朗普警告不遵守与美国贸易协定国家将面临更高关税
tè lǎng pǔ jǐng gào bù zūn shǒu yǔ měi guó mào yì xié dìng guó jiā jiāng miàn lín gēng gāo guān shuì
Trump warned that countries that do not comply with the US trade agreement will face higher tariffs
不遵守承诺是可耻的。
Bù zūnshǒu chéngnuò shì kěchǐ de.
It is a shame not to keep your promise.
但他没有遵守承诺。
Dàn tā méiyǒu zūnshǒu chéngnuò.
But, he didn't keep his promise.
请遵循护士的指导。
Qǐng zūnxún hùshi de zhǐdǎo.
Please follow the nurse's directions.
父母教育我要遵守承诺。
Fùmǔ jiàoyù wǒ yào zūnshǒu chéngnuò.
My parents teach me to abide by my promises.
Character Family
Homophones — Characters pronounced zūn
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 遵 (zūn) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 遵?
What are the components of 遵?
What are common words containing 遵?
What characters sound the same as 遵 (zūn)?
Is 遵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 遵 with real-time feedback
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