枢 meaning and stroke order
Door hinge; pivot; center of power
How to write 枢, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 枢
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) hinge; pivot (usu. fig.)
How 枢 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Tree.
木 gives the meaning and 区 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 枢
枢 combines 木 (wood) with 区 (qū), which gives a hint at the sound. Picture the wooden peg a door turns on, the small part that lets the whole door move.
枢 is a bound form, so it almost always appears inside words like 枢纽 (shūniǔ, hub) and 中枢 (zhōngshū, center). It is mostly used figuratively for a key point that everything else depends on. Example: 这座城市是交通枢纽。(Zhè zuò chéngshì shì jiāotōng shūniǔ.) This city is a transportation hub.
Common mistake: Learners often read 枢 as qū because of the phonetic part 区, but the correct reading is shū with a first tone. Also do not confuse it with 抠 (kōu, to dig out), which has the hand radical 扌 instead of 木.
Common words with 枢
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 枢纽 | shūniǔ | hub (e.g. of traffic network); hinge | HSK 7-9 |
| 中枢 | zhōngshū | center; hub; the central administration |
Questions about 枢
How many strokes are in 枢?
枢 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 枢 mean?
枢 (shū) means door hinge; pivot; center of power. A common word with it is 枢纽 (shūniǔ), meaning "hub (e.g. of traffic network); hinge".
How do you pronounce 枢?
枢 is pronounced shū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 枢?
The radical of 枢 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 枢 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 枢?
The traditional form of 枢 is 樞. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 枢 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 枢 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 枢 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I use 枢 by itself to mean hinge?
Not in modern everyday Chinese. Say 合页 (héyè) or 铰链 (jiǎoliàn) for a physical hinge, and keep 枢 for compounds like 枢纽 and 中枢.
What is the difference between 枢纽 and 中枢?
枢纽 usually means a hub or junction, such as a transport or communication hub. 中枢 stresses the central controlling part, as in 神经中枢 (shénjīng zhōngshū, nerve center).