驟 meaning and stroke order
Procedure; sudden, abrupt; to gallop
How to write 驟, stroke by stroke
24 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 驟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- sudden
- unexpected
- abrupt
- suddenly
- Taiwan pr. [zou4]
How 驟 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Horse.
馬 gives the meaning and 聚 hints at the sound.
Radical: 馬 (horse), shared by 47 characters on this site.
How to remember 驟
驟 is a horse 馬 (mǎ) next to 聚 (jù), which gives the sound. Picture a herd of horses gathering 聚 and then suddenly breaking into a gallop, and you have the idea of something abrupt.
驟 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears mostly in set words like 步驟 (bùzhòu, step, procedure) and 驟然 (zhòurán, suddenly), and in formal or written phrases. Example: 請按照步驟操作。(Qǐng ànzhào bùzhòu cāozuò.) Please follow the steps.
Common mistake: Learners often write 步驟 as 步聚 or 步奏 because the sounds are close. Remember that the step word needs the horse 馬 on the left. Also note the tone is fourth tone zhòu, not jù like its phonetic part 聚.
Common words with 驟
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 驟
How many strokes are in 驟?
驟 is written with 24 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 驟 mean?
驟 (zhòu) means procedure; sudden, abrupt; to gallop. A common word with it is 步骤 (bùzhòu), meaning "procedure; step".
How do you pronounce 驟?
驟 is pronounced zhòu, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 驟?
The radical of 驟 is 馬, which carries the idea of "horse". Dictionaries list 驟 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 驟?
驟 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 骤, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does a character with a horse in it mean procedure?
The core meaning of 驟 is a horse running fast, which led to the sense of sudden or quick. In 步驟 it combines with 步 (bù, step) to mean the steps of a process. The procedure meaning really comes from the whole word, not from 驟 alone.
Is 驟 pronounced zhòu or zòu?
In mainland standard Mandarin it is zhòu. In Taiwan many speakers and dictionaries use zòu, so you may hear both.