觳 (hú) - An ancient measuring vessel & a type of ritual wine vessel

觳Tone 2

hú ｜ 17 strokes ｜ radical:

枫惠

觳 · hú

An ancient measuring vessel;

a type of ritual wine vessel;

also used in the word 觳觫 meaning 'to tremble with fear'.

An ancient measuring vessela type of ritual wine vesselalso used in the word 觳觫 meaning 'to

Usage highlights

Trembling with fearWine vesselBronze jueRitual vessel

Synonyms

  • 爵— jue (another type of ancient wine vessel)
  • 颤— to tremble, shake

Antonyms

  • 稳— steady, stable
  • 静— calm, still

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The sacrificial vessel was a bronze jue (觳).
  • He was trembling with fear (觳觫).
  • Ancient texts mention the jue as a wine vessel (酒觳).

Collocations

  • Trembling with fear(觳觫)
  • Wine vessel(酒觳)
  • Bronze jue(青铜觳)
  • Ritual vessel(礼觳)

Idioms

  • Trembling with fear(觳觫)
  • The bull was trembling before sacrifice(牛觳觫)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Originally referred to a type of ancient Chinese bronze wine vessel used in rituals.
  • The character is now primarily used in the compound 觳觫, describing the trembling of animals (especially sacrificial ones) from fear.
  • Appears in classical texts like Mencius, where King Xuan of Qi spared an ox 'trembling like one innocent going to the place of death'.

FAQ