Definitions

zhěn fine and dense

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

(simplified; traditional ) is a phono-semantic compound. The silk radical (from ) relates it to textiles, while the phonetic (zhēn, 'true') gives the sound. It originally denoted textiles woven finely and densely. Later, this image of tight weaving was metaphorically applied to careful, meticulous thought and action. Today, it is mainly used in the compound 缜密 (zhěnmì), describing a rigorous, detail-oriented approach.