基 (jī) - base, foundation, fundamental & radical (chemistry)

基Tone 1

jī ｜ 11 strokes ｜ radical:

慧佳

基 · jī

base, foundation, fundamental;

radical (chemistry);

used in words for basic, foundation, or fundamental concepts.

base, foundation, fundamentalradical (chemistry)used in words for basic, foundation, or fundamental

Usage highlights

FoundationBasicBaseFundamentalChristianGene

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • 末— end, tip (antonym to 'base' or 'root')
  • 顶— top, peak (antonym to 'foundation')

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The foundation of a building (基础).
  • Basic education (基础教育).
  • The base of a chemical compound (基团).
  • The fundamental principles (基本原则).

Collocations

  • Foundation(基础)
  • Basic(基本)
  • Base(基地)
  • Fundamental(基于)
  • Christian(基督教)
  • Gene(基因)

Idioms

  • Lay a foundation(奠定基础)
  • Based on facts(基于事实)
  • Open up new ground(开基立业)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • The character 基 is composed of 其 (phonetic) and 土 (earth, semantic), originally meaning the foundation of a building.
  • It is used in scientific terms like 'gene' (基因) and 'radical' (基团).
  • It appears in religious contexts, such as Christianity (基督教).

FAQ