📕 Advanced — HSK 5-6 vocabulary
Meaning
Classifier for plants (more formal/literary than 棵). Also used in biology.
🏮 Cultural Story
中文 Chinese
"株"是"棵"的书面语版本。你在植物学论文里会看到"一株玫瑰"，但在菜市场永远不会听到"一株白菜"（太文绉绉了！）。"株"还有一个特殊用法：疫苗。"一株新冠疫苗"——这里借用植物的意象，把病毒株比作一株植物。这个词在2020年之后突然变得家喻户晓。另外成语"守株待兔"里的"株"就是树桩的意思——农夫守着树桩等兔子撞上来，比喻不劳而获。
English
**株 (zhū)** is 棵's literary/formal version. You'll see "a rose plant (株)" in bot papers, never at a vegetable market (too fancy!). Special usage: vaccines. "A strain of COVID vaccine" — borrowing plant imagery, treating virus strains like plants. This word became household knowledge after 2020. Idiom "守株待兔" (guarding a tree stump for rabbits) = waiting for windfall without effort.
💡 Memory Tip
More formal than 棵. Used in written Chinese and scientific contexts. In spoken Chinese, 棵 is more common.
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Classifier for plants (more formal/literary than 棵). Also used in biology.