穿过
chuānguò · HSK 7
pass through
🧵🚪 CHUAN = thread a needle + GUO = cross over — thread yourself through
穿 alone means to wear or to pierce (like threading a needle through fabric). Add 过 (to cross, to pass) and you get the full action: passing through something from one side to the other.
穿 — cave 穴 on top + tooth 牙 below
Originally a compound suggesting a tooth (牙) boring through a cave or hole (穴), giving the core sense of 'pierce through' or 'penetrate'. From this came extended meanings like 'pass through', 'wear (clothes)' — i.e. pass the body through fabric — and 'bore a hole'.
过 — 辶 walk radical + 呙 (phonetic)
过 combines the walking radical 辶, suggesting motion or passage, with 呙 serving as the phonetic component. Originally it depicted crossing or passing by on foot, which extended to meanings like 'to pass,' 'to cross over,' and later 'past' or 'excessive.' The simplified form replaces the traditional 過.