猜

cāi

犭 + 青

HSK 2.0Level 4

HSK 3.0Level 4

Definitions

cāi (verb) to guess

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound. Meanings derived from resentful suspicion.

Semantic: 犭 Phonetic: 青

About

猜 is formed as a phono-semantic compound: the semantic radical 犭, commonly used for animals like dogs and wild beasts, suggests a canine trait, while the phonetic element 青 (qīng) provides the pronunciation. The original meaning was resentful suspicion , a mental state metaphorically linked to a guard dog's wary and distrustful watchfulness. Over time, the character's primary sense shifted from harboring malicious suspicion to the neutral cognitive process of guessing, speculating, or estimating unknowns, giving rise to common words for guessing riddles and predicting outcomes.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

你猜这是什么？

Nǐ cāi zhè shì shénme?

Guess what this is?

我猜不到答案。

Wǒ cāi bù dào dá'àn.

I can't guess the answer.

孩子们喜欢猜谜语。

Háizimen xǐhuān cāi míyǔ.

Children like guessing riddles.

他猜测明天会下雨。

Tā cāicè míngtiān huì xiàyǔ.

He guesses that it will rain tomorrow.

你能猜中我的心思吗？

Nǐ néng cāi zhòng wǒ de xīnsī ma?

Can you guess what I'm thinking?

根据线索，我猜出了凶手。

Gēnjù xiànsuǒ, wǒ cāi chūle xiōngshǒu.

Based on the clues, I guessed the murderer.

不要胡乱猜测别人的意图。

Bùyào húluàn cāicè biérén de yìtú.

Don't randomly guess others' intentions.

科学家通过数据猜测宇宙的年龄。

Kēxuéjiā tōngguò shùjù cāicè yǔzhòu de niánlíng.

Scientists use data to guess the age of the universe.

Related Characters

Component: 犭

Component: 青

猜