四周
sìzhōu · HSK 5
all around
🧭 四 = four + 周 = circumference; four sides around you
四 means four and 周 means circle or circumference. Together: the four sides circling a point — everything around the perimeter. Think of compass directions N/S/E/W ringing a spot.
四 — enclosure 囗 + divide 八
Originally 四 was written as four horizontal strokes (亖), a simple tally for the number four. The current form, showing 八 (divide) inside an enclosure 囗, was borrowed during the Zhou dynasty and gradually replaced the older tally form. The shape is unrelated to its meaning today.
周 — enclosure 囗 + 吉 (earth 土 + mouth 口)
Originally a pictograph of a field with grain plotted in rows, suggesting density and completeness. It came to mean 'all around,' 'circumference,' and 'complete,' later extending to 'week' (a full cycle). Also a major surname, famously the Zhou dynasty.