髓 suǐ marrow
marrow; substance; essence; bone marrow
How to remember 髓: 骨 bone + 遀 follow along = marrow. The chef cracks a big beef bone for the soup, and the kids follow along closely as he scoops out the soft marrow.
Component breakdown
髓 = 骨 bone + 遀 follow along
- 骨 bone
- 遀 follow along
The chef cracks a big beef bone for the soup, and the kids follow along closely as he scoops out the soft marrow.
How it is used
- Literally bone marrow (骨髓 gǔsuǐ), but its high-value use is figurative: 精髓 (jīngsuǐ) the essence, quintessence - 抓住精髓 (zhuāzhù jīngsuǐ) to grasp the essence.
- 精髓 is deeper than 重点 (zhòngdiǎn, key point): it's the very core 'marrow' of a doctrine, art, or culture. Also 深入骨髓 (shēnrù gǔsuǐ) = ingrained to the bone.
- Written/formal.