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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

楚

chǔ
Vitex; Chinese chaste tree (Vitex negundo)
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 2
  • radical 木
  • 13 strokes

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  • derived
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Origin

Originally, a compound formed by 林 (forest), 囗 (an enclosure), and 止 (a footprint pointing up) – according to Shuowen Jiezi, "a group of trees". Perhaps the whole character points to a location on space with a group of trees or a small forest. As seen on some versions on bronzes, the two bottom component were fused and stylized as 足, thus getting the old variant 䠂.

Eventually, the whole character was further stylized as Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *sŋ̊ʰraʔ, *sŋ̊ʰras): semantic 林 (“forest; grove; woods”) + phonetic 疋 (OC *ŋraːʔ, *sŋra, *sŋraʔ). However, the phonetic component preserves part of the original drawing.

Schuessler (2007) proposes an Austroasiatic origin; compare Proto-Austroasiatic *ɟrla(ː)ʔ (“thorn”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese林 “forest; grove; woods”
  • soundChinese疋 “foot”

Related: Proto-Austroasiatic *ɟrla(ː)ʔ

Words built on it: 清楚

Meanings

character
  1. Vitex; Chinese chaste tree (Vitex negundo)
  2. thick growth of weeds or trees
  3. punishment cane
  4. to beat with a punishment cane
  5. painful; suffering
  6. neat; clear; orderly; arranged

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

楚：叢木。一名荊也。从林疋聲。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 植物名。馬鞭草科蔓荊屬，落葉灌木。葉為掌狀複葉，邊緣有細鋸齒。七、八月間開淡黃紫色花。　△牡荊
  2. 明晰、整齊。 例：清楚
  3. 痛苦。 例：苦楚、痛楚、辛楚
  4. 古國名。戰國七雄之一。周成王封熊繹於楚，春秋時稱王。故址在今湖南、湖北、安徽、浙江及河南南部，後為秦所滅。
  5. 朝代名：五代時十國之一。馬殷所建。有今湖南及廣西東部等地，後為南唐所滅。
  6. 姓。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 楚 was written 字形演變

  1. 楚 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 楚 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 楚 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 楚 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 楚 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 楚 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 楚