Chinese character 柜

柜 usually means a cabinet, cupboard, or wardrobe.

For this storage sense, simplified Chinese uses 柜 and traditional Chinese uses 櫃. Shuowen, an early Chinese dictionary, does not record 櫃; the later Yupian dictionary defines it as a container, and a Tang poem by Bai Juyi mentions a book cabinet.

Song and Yuan sources also use 櫃 for a raised field edge that holds water. Ming wardrobes and Qing cabinets show its practical use as storage furniture.

Why does 柜 appear in shop words?

The surrounding word extends the cabinet into the shop.

柜台 is the physical service counter. 掌柜 means the shopkeeper, while 柜上 can refer to the shop's counter side or the person responsible for it. The counter can stand for the business built around it.

Why does 柜 have a jǔ reading?

The tree name 柜柳 uses the separate jǔ reading.

Mandarin Pinyin writes the cabinet-and-counter reading as guì: start with a hard g and say 'way' as your voice falls. In jǔ, the initial is like English j, followed by an 'ee' vowel made with rounded lips; its third tone dips low and rises. In a message, the surrounding words guide the reading; alone, 柜 usually means cabinet.