树枝

• Pinyin: shù zhī
• Hanzi breakdown: 树 = 木 + 尌 (wood + upright — a tree); 枝 = 木 + 支 (wood + to support/branch — a branch; a twig)

Meaning

A branch of a tree; a tree branch.

Basic botanical vocabulary. Used literally for tree branches and figuratively (less formally) for offshoots or branches. 折断树枝 (to break off a branch). In formal scientific or organisational writing, 分支 (branch) is preferred over 树枝 for metaphorical uses.

Examples

1. 暴风雪过后，公园里多处大型树木的树枝因积雪超重而折断，园林部门随即启动应急修剪程序，以防止断枝坠落伤及过往行人或损毁地面车辆。 After the blizzard, branches on many large trees in the park snapped under the weight of accumulated snow, and the landscaping department immediately launched emergency pruning to prevent falling limbs from injuring pedestrians or damaging parked cars.
2. 工匠会看树枝的弯曲和韧性，判断它是否适合做器物骨架，这靠的是多年实践。 A craftsman looks at a branch’s curve and toughness to judge whether it’s suitable for a framework—something that comes from years of hands-on practice.
3. 研究鸟类筑巢时发现，多数鸣禽对树枝的粗细、角度和离树干距离都有严格标准。 In studies of bird nesting, researchers have found that most songbirds have strict standards for a branch’s thickness, angle, and distance from the trunk.

Usage Guide

Context: nature, botany, crafts, ecology, urban maintenance

Tone: descriptive

Do Say

• 这位木雕艺术家把一根台风折断、形态扭曲的树枝做成抽象雕塑，引发了对缺陷美学的讨论。(This woodcarver turned a typhoon-broken, twisted tree branch into an abstract sculpture, sparking discussion about the aesthetics of imperfection.)
• 在分层组织里，决策从树干传到各级树枝虽便于统一部署，却易在层级间失真，需要反馈机制纠正。(In a layered organization, passing decisions from the trunk to each branch helps unified deployment, but it can distort them between levels, so feedback is needed to correct it.)

Don't Say

• 树枝 to describe the structural branches of an organisation, genealogy, or data structure in formal writing — while the metaphorical usage exists in informal Chinese, formal texts on organisational structure or computer science use 分支 (branch) or 节点 (node) instead to avoid ambiguity

Origin & History

树 (tree — 木 wood + 尌 upright) + 枝 (branch; a twig — 木 wood + 支 to support/branch out)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal