双

Étymologie et composants

The Chinese character 双 (shuāng) is composed of two parts: the radical 亻(rén) and the phonetic component 尣 (chuāng). The radical 亻represents a person, while the phonetic component 尣 is a simplified form of the character 床 (chuáng), which means "bed". The original meaning of 双 was "two people sleeping in the same bed", which later extended to mean "a pair" or "two of something". In modern Chinese, 双 is used in a variety of contexts, including:- As a noun, 双 means "a pair" or "two of something". For example, 一双筷子 (yī shuāng kuàizi) means "a pair of chopsticks".- As an adjective, 双 means "double" or "twice". For example, 双倍 (shuāng bèi) means "double" or "twice as much".- As a verb, 双 means "to pair up" or "to match". For example, 双双 (shuāng shuāng) means "in pairs" or "together".The character 双 is also used in a number of Chinese idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 双管齐下 (shuāng guǎn qí xià) means "to use two methods at the same time", while the proverb 一双筷子吃不成饭 (yī shuāng kuàizi chī bù chéng fàn) means "one chopstick cannot pick up rice", which is used to describe the importance of cooperation.