蝶 dié butterfly
How to remember 蝶: 虫 insect + 枼 leaves = butterfly. The girl finds a tiny insect resting on the leaves of the lemon tree and waits for weeks until it becomes a butterfly.
Component breakdown
蝶 = 虫 insect + 枼 leaves
- 虫 insect
- 枼 leaves
The girl finds a tiny insect resting on the leaves of the lemon tree and waits for weeks until it becomes a butterfly.
How it is used
- 蝶, like its partner 蝴, only ever appears in 蝴蝶 húdié, 'butterfly' - you can't use either character alone to mean 'butterfly.'
- You'll see 蝶 reused in a few compound coinages (蝶泳 diéyǒng, the butterfly swimming stroke) but the core, everyday word is always the pair 蝴蝶.