Definitions
(noun)
ability; talent; capability
(adverb)
only then; just now
(adverb)
only (before quantities)
Etymology
Originally a pictograph of a wooden post, similar to 弋. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
About
The character "才" originates from an early pictograph depicting a sprouting plant, a form that conceptually embodied innate potential or natural ability from its inception. This foundational sense of inherent talent or capability remained central in classical Chinese, where it commonly referred to a person's endowed gifts or competence. Over time, its semantic field expanded beyond nominal uses, and it acquired important adverbial functions within the language, evolving to indicate notions such as recent occurrence, exclusivity, or conditional necessity, as in meaning "just" or "only". Structurally, it has maintained a simple and unchanged composition throughout its history, directly echoing its pictorial roots while sustaining its dual roles as both a substantive term for ability and a versatile grammatical particle.
Example Sentences Hide
我现在才来。
他才是好人。
你才能做这件事。
人才非常重要。
他昨天才到北京。
只有努力才能成功。
直到昨天他才告诉我。
这个问题才能被彻底解决。