棣 (dì): Kerria japonica (a flowering sh…

Meanings

1 Kerria japonica (a flowering shrub); the kerria
2 younger brother (used in formal correspondence)

Characters

棣

dì

kerria shrub; younger brother (letters)

Examples

棣棠在春天开出鲜艳的黄花。

Dì táng zài chūntiān kāi chū xiānyàn de huánghuā.

The kerria bursts into bright yellow flowers in spring.

旧式书信中，“贤棣”是对晚辈的敬称。

Jiùshì shūxìn zhōng, " xián dì " shì duì wǎnbèi de jìngchēng.

In an old-style letter, 贤棣 is a polite way to address a younger man.

Tips

history

Originally a tree name, 常棣, a shrub the Book of Songs used as an image of brotherly closeness. From that poem the character also came to stand in for 弟 ('younger brother'), surviving in formal letter-writing terms like 贤棣.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

The tree radical 木 on the left marks the original meaning: a kind of flowering shrub. Even when borrowed for 'younger brother', the plant root stays visible.

phonetic

隶 lì

to be subordinate to; clerical

Supplies the sound. Standalone 隶 reads lì; the reading has drifted to dì in this character. It carries pronunciation only, no meaning for the shrub.