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侍

shì
verb #17,825

Meanings

  1. 1 to serve
  2. 2 to attend upon
  3. 3 to wait on

Examples

他在宫中侍奉皇帝。
Tā zài gōngzhōng shìfèng huángdì.
He served the emperor in the palace.
侍者端来了一杯茶。
Shìzhě duān lái le yī bēi chá.
The attendant brought a cup of tea.

Tips

usage
侍 is literary and rarely used alone in modern Chinese. It appears in compounds like 侍者 (attendant), 侍卫 (bodyguard), 侍奉 (to serve/attend to), and 服侍 (to wait on).

Components

radical
亻 rén
person (left-side radical form of 人)
Left person radical — the side-form of 人. The indexing radical, marking 侍 as a person-doing-X verb: to attend, wait upon, serve a superior. Same radical groups 侍 with 仆 (servant), 伴 (companion), 侯 (marquis), 侯 (wait) — many of the social-role terms in classical Chinese sit here. A subordinate figure standing in attendance.
phonetic
寺 sì
temple; office (here phonetic)
Right 寺 supplies the sound — sì shifting to shì through historical s/sh alternation. 寺 originally meant 'court office' (only later 'temple'), source of 持 (hold), 时 (time), 待 (wait), 特 (special). A faint semantic echo: attendants serve at a court office. Choice of phonetic gives the whole sì-family ring.

Stroke Order

侍 shì