埶 (yì) - To plant & to cultivate

埶Tone 4

yì ｜ 11 strokes ｜ radical:

一懿

埶 · yì

To plant;

to cultivate;

skill;

art;

originally depicted planting a tree, later extended to mean skills and arts acquired through cultivation.

To plantto cultivateskill

Usage highlights

Planting treesCultivation skillArts and skillsTechnical ability

Synonyms

  • 藝— art, skill (modern replacement)
  • 植— to plant
  • 種— to plant, to grow

Antonyms

  • 毀— to destroy, to ruin
  • 廢— to abandon, to discard

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • Ancient form meaning to plant trees (埶树).
  • Original meaning of cultivation (种植的原始意义).
  • Later borrowed to mean arts and skills (技艺).

Collocations

  • Planting trees(埶树)
  • Cultivation skill(种植之埶)
  • Arts and skills(技艺)
  • Technical ability(技术之埶)

Idioms

  • The original character for arts and skills(技艺的本字)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • One of the earliest characters depicting agricultural activity - planting trees.
  • Evolution shows semantic shift from concrete action (planting) to abstract concept (skills).
  • Later replaced by 藝 (art/skill) and 勢 (power/influence) as separate specialized characters.

FAQ