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司

sī
noun #2,187

Meanings

  1. 1 to manage; to take charge of
  2. 2 department (government)
  3. 3 (component of 公司 company)

Examples

他在一家大公司工作。
Tā zài yījiā dàgōng sī gōngzuò.
He works at a large company.
司机开得很快。
Sījī kāi de hěnkuài.
The driver drives very fast.
司法部门在调查。
Sīfǎbùmén zài diàochá.
The judicial department is investigating.

Tips

usage
司 is used in: 公司 (company), 司机 (driver), 司法 (judicial), 司令 (commander). Originally meant 'to manage/preside over' — a 司 was a government bureau. Most learners first encounter it in 公司.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth; speak; command
The mouth radical sits sheltered inside the outer hook, indexing the character. Pictures the speaking mouth that issues commands — fitting for a character whose meaning is 'to manage, supervise, take charge of', the work of someone whose orders carry weight.
ideograph
乛 héng
enclosing hook frame (fused upper-right)
Outer wrap functions as a non-decomposable two-stroke enclosing hook opening to the lower left and sheltering the 口 inside — a fused frame with no independent reading. The small mouth beneath is what gets dictionary-indexed. Historically a reversed 后 (king/ruler), but the modern silhouette no longer reflects that.

Stroke Order

司 sī