Definitions

(noun) character; written symbol
(noun) word; letter

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The (roof) component is based on the original meaning "raise up children". The meaning later shifted to "educate", "word", and "writing".

About

The character "字", formed from the radical 宀 symbolizing a roof and the component 子 meaning child, originally conveyed the idea of nurturing or breeding within a domestic space, with its early usage centered on the rearing of offspring. This foundational meaning gradually expanded through a metaphorical shift, where it began to denote written characters, drawing an analogy between the generation of complex graphs from basic elements and the propagation of children from parents. Consequently, "字" evolved to primarily represent a unit of written language, a semantic development that solidified over centuries while its structural composition has remained consistently intact.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我喜欢这个

Wǒ xǐhuān zhège zì.

I like this character.

他教我写汉

Tā jiāo wǒ xiě hànzì.

He teaches me to write Chinese characters.

这个的发音很难。

Zhège zì de fāyīn hěn nán.

The pronunciation of this character is difficult.

请用这个造句。

Qǐng yòng zhège zì zào jù.

Please use this character to make a sentence.

典里有很多

Zìdiǎn lǐ yǒu hěnduō zì.

There are many characters in the dictionary.

学习汉需要耐心。

Xuéxí hànzì xūyào nàixīn.

Learning Chinese characters requires patience.

这个的笔画顺序很重要。

Zhège zì de bǐhuà shùnxù hěn zhòngyào.

The stroke order of this character is very important.

在中文里,每个都有其独特的含义。

Zài zhōngwén lǐ, měi gè zì dōu yǒu qí dútè de hányì.

In Chinese, each character has its unique meaning.