士 (shì): scholar; learned person

Meanings

1 scholar; learned person
2 soldier; warrior
3 person (suffix for professions)

Examples

他是一位博士。

Tā shì yī wèi bóshì.

He is a PhD holder.

护士照顾病人很用心。

Hùshì zhàogù bìngrén hěn yòngxīn.

The nurse takes very good care of patients.

Tips

usage

士 is a common suffix: 博士 (bóshì, PhD), 护士 (hùshì, nurse), 战士 (zhànshì, warrior), 绅士 (shēnshì, gentleman).

Components

pictograph

士 shì

scholar; man of office

Self-component pictograph, traditionally read as an axe-head — the symbol of a man capable of office and military service. Visually distinguished from 土 (earth) only by relative stroke length: in 士 the top horizontal is longer than the bottom; in 土 the bottom is longer. Itself Kangxi radical #33, anchoring 壮 (strong), 壹 (one — formal), and the warrior-scholar family.

Radical

Scholar Kangxi #33

The 士 radical, originally an axe-head pictograph denoting a man capable of office (Shuowen: 事也). A small Kangxi class — 壮, 壹, 壳, 壶, 壻 — that mostly serves as a structural anchor. Visually similar to 土 (top stroke is shorter on 士).