姊

姉

zǐ

女 + 𠂔

Definitions

zǐ old variant of 姊[zǐ]

zǐ older sister; Taiwan pr. [jiě]

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 𠂔 represents the sound.

About

姊 is a phono-semantic compound. The left-side radical 女 (woman) indicates its semantic category, female relatives or gender-specific roles. The right component 𠂔 provides the phonetic element. Its primary meaning is elder sister. While commonly found in classical literature and formal writing for an older female sibling, in modern colloquial speech it is often replaced by or combined with other characters to express the same familial relationship.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我的姊妹很善良。

Wǒ de zǐmèi hěn shànliáng.

My sisters are very kind.

姊姊教我写作业。

Zǐzi jiāo wǒ xiě zuòyè.

My older sister teaches me to do homework.

我和姊妹去逛街。

Wǒ hé zǐmèi qù guàngjiē.

I go shopping with my sisters.

这对姊妹长得非常像。

Zhè duì zǐmèi zhǎng de fēicháng xiàng.

This pair of sisters look very alike.

她是家中的大姊。

Tā shì jiā zhōng de dà zǐ.

She is the eldest sister in the family.

姊妹城市之间有很多交流。

Zǐmèi chéngshì zhī jiān yǒu hěnduō jiāoliú.

There is a lot of exchange between sister cities.

这本书是那部电影的姊妹篇。

Zhè běn shū shì nà bù diànyǐng de zǐmèi piān.

This book is a sister work to that movie.

尽管她们是姊妹，但性格截然不同。

Jǐnguǎn tāmen shì zǐmèi, dàn xìnggé jiérán bùtóng.

Although they are sisters, their personalities are completely different.

Related Characters

Component: 女

Component: 𠂔

姊