What does 住 mean in Chinese?

住 (zhù) means "to live (in/at)" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 住?

住 is written with 7 strokes, starting from the 亻 (person) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 住?

The radical of 住 is 亻 (person, Kangxi radical #9). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 作, 保, 体, 信.

How many strokes does 住 have?

The Chinese character 住 has 7 strokes.

What HSK level is 住?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 住 is a character to recognise at HSK 1.

住 (zhù): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

住

zhù

to live (in/at)

HSK 1 character 7 strokes Radical: 亻 (person)

Quick Answer

住 (zhù) means "to live (in/at)" with 7 strokes, radical 亻 (person), HSK 1 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 住 →Animated stroke-order for 住 →

Pronunciation

zhù

Meaning

Primary: to live (in/at)

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

住 is a phono-semantic compound combining 亻 (person) with 主 (phonetic, originally depicting a lamp with a flame on top). 主 carried the sense of something fixed in place; the flame stays on its stand; which reinforces the semantic reading. The character does not appear in oracle bone script and was coined later to distinguish the 'dwell' sense from 主 itself.

Form evolution

住 appears from the seal script period onward, after 主 had taken on its 'master, host' meanings and a new character was needed for 'to stay, to reside'. Seal forms show 人 + 主 clearly. Clerical script converted 人 to the 亻 radical, and the character has remained stable. No simplification was applied.

How the meaning evolved

The original sense was 'to stop, to come to rest', closely tied to the phonetic 主 (fixed flame). This extended to 'to dwell, to reside' by the Han period, which is the dominant modern meaning. A secondary sense of 'firmly, securely' survives as a verb complement: 记住 (remember firmly), 站住 (stand still), 抓住 (grasp firmly).

Cultural note

The resultative use of 住 as a verb complement is a major learner stumbling block: it does not mean 'live' in these constructions but rather 'and have it stick'. 拿住 is not 'take and live' but 'take and hold fast'. This use preserves the oldest meaning of the character, now extinct as an independent verb.

Mnemonic

A person who is master of the house — to live

Decomposition

住=亻radical+主component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Pinyin	zhù
Meanings	to live (in/at)
Stroke count	7 strokes
Radical	亻 (#9: person)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1
Frequency	#597 most common

Example sentences

我住在北京。
Wǒ zhù zài Běijīng.
I live in Beijing.
From 住 (HSK 1)
看到这么好笑的画面，我忍不住笑了。
Kàndào zhème hǎoxiào de huàmiàn, wǒ rěnbuzhù xiào le.
Seeing such a funny scene, I couldn't help laughing.
From 忍不住
他不住地点头称赞。
Tā bùzhù de diǎntóu chēngzàn.
He nodded and praised repeatedly.
From 不住