珠
pearl, jewel
At a glance · 珠
Evolution of the glyph
Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.
Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE
⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.
珠字小篆从玉朱声，为形声字；本义为珍珠、珠玉。甲骨文未见。
What the sketch shows
Origins & notes
珠本义为珍珠，亦指珠玉。
Structure
形声字，左部『玉』为意符表珍宝，右部『朱』为声符。
At a glance
Pinyinzhū
Radical王
Strokes10
UnicodeU+73E0
Character type形声
Theme器物
Six languages, one character
Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.
English
pearl, jewel
Zhu is a phonetic-semantic character meaning a pearl and precious bead.
Français
perle, joyau
Zhu est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant perle et joyau.
Español
perla, joya
Zhu es un carácter fonosemántico que significa perla y joya.
العربية
لؤلؤ، جوهرة
تشو حرف صوتي دلالي يعني اللؤلؤ والجوهرة.
Русский
жемчуг, драгоценность
Чжу — фоносемантический знак, означающий жемчуг и драгоценный камень.
Common words
- 珍珠zhēn zhūpearl
- 珠宝zhū bǎojewelry