Zi:子

子 [zǐ] child/offspring; 儿子 son; 子儿 seed (籽); sub-/subordinate (子集 subset); (地支) 1st Earthly Branch; (radical 39, 子部) [zi] (n. suf.) 孩子, 桌子, 屋子, 电子; (HDZ:) …

2 monosyllabic entries in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

►¹zǐ To view this entry, please log in
►zi To view this entry, please log in

The Shuōwén Seal form of 子(𠯃) zǐ ‘child/offspring’ is said to depict a young child, a crawling infant / toddler (the legs are weak/swaddled, and so not drawn in full); the arms are up-raised seeking help or in respect (cf. 廾/𠬞, 孝); the loop of the head is not closed, marking the 囟(𦥓) xìn ‘fontanel’ (softspot in the top of the child's skull); formerly wr. 𡿹(𢀇), with a shape like 巛 for the hair, also suggesting 气 qì ‘breath/cries’.
    Note: In the old complex/decorative form 𢀇 the top is wr. like 𡿺, as in 脑/腦(匘), in which 囟(𦥓) xìn ‘fontanel’ (brain).
    Note: 子(𠯃) zǐ ‘child/offspring; seed’ (first of the 12 地支) is among the oldest Ch. wr. signs; cf. 天干, 地支, 天干地支.
    Compare: 甲(𠇚) jiǎ ‘sprouting seed/acorn’ (first of the 10 天干).
    Compare: 𠫓(𡿮㐬) liú ‘nurture/foster’ (child inverted, head-down, easy birth); cf. 㐬, 毓/育, 后.
    Compare: 向 xiàng; 亨/享(𠅠) xiǎng.
    Compare: 了, 孑(𡤼), 孒, 孨.
    Compare: 兒(𠒆) ér ‘child’, among simple characters wr. 儿 (儿子 érzi ‘son’).
    Note: As a noun suffix, 子 zǐ takes the neutral (unstressed) tone, as in 屋子 wūzi ‘room’.
    Note: As a left-side component, 子 zǐ is often wr. 孑, as in 孖, 孩.
    子 is the 39th of the 214 radicals.
    HDZ: 子 : zǐ : (古) 儿、女 (子女); 儿子; 子孙, 后代; 太子, 君位的继承人; 诸侯服丧期间的称呼; 臣民, 百姓; 爱, 象对子女一样地爱护; 今儿女之道, 善事父母; 收养为子; (古) 第四等爵位名 (cf. 子爵); (古) 士大夫; (古) (通称) 对男子; (古) (称呼) 对女子; (泛) 人; (代词) 你/您; (古) (称呼) 人对自己老师的称呼; (老子, 荀子, 韩非子); 动物的幼儿; 动物的卵; 植物的果实或种子 (松子, 莲子, 裸子植物, 被子植物; cf. 籽); 滋生; 结果实; (子弹, 子石, 算盘子); 棋子; 幼小的, 稚嫩的 (子鸡, 子畜, 子薑/姜); (古) 货币轻者; 利钱, 息金; 副, 偏 (官职); 派生的、从属的 (与本体或母体相对而存在的事物) (子注, 子堤, 子公司, 子母钟); (地支) (与天干相配, 用以纪年; 用以纪月; 用以纪日; 用以纪时, 夜半十一时至一时) (cf. 天干地支; 甲子、丙子、戊子、庚子、壬子); (五行) 水; (生肖) 鼠; 似; (量词); 則 (zé): 作/做; 姊; (副词); (姓) • zi : (助词) (后缀)
►references: Guǎngyùn:253.30; Wieger:94a; Karlgren:AD1089,GSR964a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:2.1006.6; Lindqvist:44; Mathews:6939; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:277.01; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:004.1.02; Wáng(1993):26; EDOC:1
►components: 了一
►Cantonese: ji/
►stroke 子 (... strokes)
►list characters containing 子 as a component
►list words containing 子 (most common words first)
Unicode: U+5B50
►web links for ‘子’
search web for ‘子’: ►Google ►GT ►Baidu ►Bing ►Yahoo

The Wenlin Zidian (namespace Zi)
URL: https://wenlin.co/wow/Zi:%E5%AD%90
Refresh this page