How to Write 雏 (chú) — Meaning “Chick; young bird; fledgling”

Imagine a young bird (隹) pecking at some grass (刍 looks like two blades of grass). The sound 'chú' is like 'chew', so picture the chick chewing on grass. This links the shape and sound to the meaning of a baby bird.

The left part 刍 has a short horizontal stroke after the first '刀' shape—do not confuse it with 台. The right part 隹 starts with a left-falling stroke (丿), then a vertical stroke — common mistake is to write it like 住 (zhù), but 隹 has no person radical. Keep the two parts balanced, with the left slightly narrower.

雏 means 'young bird' or 'fledgling' and is used in words like 雏鸟 (baby bird) and 雏形 (prototype). 雀 (què) specifically means 'sparrow' or a small bird, and is a concrete noun. 䧹 (yīng) is a rare variant of 鹰 (eagle) and is almost never used in modern Chinese.

雏 is commonly used in two types of contexts: literally for young birds (雏鸟, 雏鸡) and metaphorically for early-stage forms (雏形 'prototype' or 雏形 'rudimentary form'). It carries a gentle, tender nuance and is often found in literary or scientific descriptions, not in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 雏 include: 雏鸟 (chú niǎo) — Fledgling; young bird; 雏形 (chú xíng) — Prototype; rudimentary form; 雏鸡 (chú jī) — Chick; baby chicken.