赘

贅

zhuì

敖 + 贝

Definitions

zhuì (bound form) superfluous; (bound form) (of a man) to move into the household of one's in-laws after marrying; (of the bride's parents) to have the groom join one's household

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 敖 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 贅.

Semantic: 敖 Phonetic: 贝

About

The simplified character 赘 (zhuì) and its traditional counterpart 贅 are phono-semantic compounds where the upper component 敖 (áo, 'to ramble/stroll') conveys the meaning and the lower component 贝 (bèi, cowrie shell) supplies the sound. Historically, it referred to pawning items or a man marrying into his wife's family, reflecting the financial realm of shells. Today, the meaning has shifted heavily toward 'superfluous' or 'redundant', an extra burden, as seen in the compound 赘述 (zhuìshù), which means giving unnecessary details.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

冗赘的词句会让文章不简洁。

Rǒng zhuì de cí jù huì ràng wén zhāng bù jiǎn jié.

Redundant words and phrases will make an essay lack conciseness.

他的解释过于累赘，听不明白。

Tā de jiě shì guò yú léi zhui, tīng bu míng bai.

His explanation is too convoluted and hard to understand.

这段文字有很多赘余的成分。

Zhè duàn wén zì yǒu hěn duō zhuì yú de chéng fèn.

This passage has many superfluous elements.

报告里请删除一切赘言。

Bào gào lǐ qǐng shān chú yī qiè zhuì yán.

Please remove all unnecessary verbiage from the report.

这些装饰品显得有点赘疣。

Zhè xiē zhuāng shì pǐn xiǎn de yǒu diǎn zhuì yóu.

These decorations seem somewhat superfluous.

他的理论架构存在赘述的问题。

Tā de lǐ lùn jià gòu cún zài zhuì shù de wèn tí.

There is an issue of unnecessary elaboration in the structure of his theory.

法律条文最忌讳冗词赘句。

Fǎ lǜ tiáo wén zuì jì huì rǒng cí zhuì jù.

Legal provisions most abhor verbose and redundant sentences.

该政策旨在消除制度性的赘余环节。

Gāi zhèng cè zhǐ zài xiāo chú zhì dù xìng de zhuì yú huán jié.

This policy aims to eliminate redundant institutional procedures.

Related Characters

Component: 敖

Component: 贝

赘