姗

姍
shān
noun #13,121

Meanings

  1. 1 used in 姗姗 (leisurely gait)

Examples

HSK 5
Tā shānshān-láichí, cuòguò le kāimùshì.
She arrived fashionably late and missed the opening ceremony.

Tips

usage
姗 is a bound morpheme, almost exclusively seen in 姗姗 (leisurely, unhurried) and the idiom 姗姗来迟 (to arrive late, to be slow in coming). Also used as a character in female given names.

Components

radical
女 nǚ
woman
Left woman radical, a pictograph of a kneeling figure with crossed arms. It indexes 姗 in the family of words used historically to describe female bearing, manner, or names: 婷 graceful, 娴 refined, 娇 delicate, 妩 charming. 姗 belongs to this register - a slow, unhurried gait traditionally read as feminine elegance.
phonetic
册 cè
scroll; book
Right side 册 supplies the sound: cè drifting to shān through sibilant alternation, with a tone shift. 册 itself depicts bamboo slips bound with cord - the original book format. Faint semantic flavor too: the rhythmic side-to-side sway of 姗姗来迟 (arriving fashionably late) echoes the gentle swing of bound bamboo strips.

Stroke Order

姗 shān