叔 shū uncle
uncle; father's younger brother
How to remember 叔: 尗 bean plant + 又 again = uncle. The children cannot reach the pods on the tall bean plant, but again and again they are lifted onto the shoulders of their uncle.
Component breakdown
叔 = 尗 bean plant + 又 again
- 尗 bean plant
- 又 again
The children cannot reach the pods on the tall bean plant, but again and again they are lifted onto the shoulders of their uncle.
How it came to be
A hand picking at a bean plant with the pods hanging. It was the word for gathering beans and it was borrowed for a father's younger brother; the beans moved into another character.
How it is used
- Father's YOUNGER brother specifically - contrast 伯 (bó) father's older brother. Chinese kinship terms encode relative age.
- 叔叔 (shūshu) also politely addresses any adult man of one's parents' generation - a child calls a stranger 叔叔, like 'mister'.
- 叔 is younger-uncle on the paternal side only; the maternal uncle is 舅舅 (jiùjiu).
Characters built with 叔
Words with 叔
Example sentences
- 他是我的叔叔。 Tā shì wǒ de shūshū.He's my uncle.