字 (zì) - Character, word, letter & written symbol

字Tone 4

zì ｜ 6 strokes ｜ radical: 子

志

字 · zì

Character, word, letter;

written symbol;

style of writing;

courtesy name (in ancient China);

to be pregnant (archaic).

Character, word, letterwritten symbolstyle of writing

Usage highlights

Chinese characterdictionaryfont/typefaceword processingalphabetwritten language

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • 词— word (as opposed to single character)
  • 语— speech/language (spoken vs written)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • This is a Chinese character (汉字).
  • How many words do you know?(你认识多少字?)
  • He writes in beautiful calligraphy (他写的字很漂亮).
  • My dictionary contains many words (我的字典里有很多字).

Collocations

  • Chinese character(汉字)
  • dictionary(字典)
  • font/typeface(字体)
  • word processing(文字处理)
  • alphabet(字母)
  • written language(文字)

Idioms

  • Every character is worth a thousand pieces of gold(一字千金)
  • One word says it all(一字之师)
  • Struggling over every word(咬文嚼字)
  • Not knowing a single character(一字不识)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In ancient China, educated men received a 'courtesy name' (字 zì) upon reaching adulthood, used among peers.
  • The character combines 'roof' (宀) and 'child' (子), originally meaning 'to bear/raise children', later extended to 'written characters'.
  • Chinese characters are considered the foundation of Chinese civilization and cultural continuity.

FAQ