灾 (zāi): disaster; calamity

Meanings

1 disaster; calamity
2 misfortune; adversity

Characters

灾

zai

disaster; calamity

Examples

天灾人祸是不可避免的。

Tiānzāi rénhuò shì bùkěbìmiǎn de.

Natural and man-made disasters are unavoidable.

这场灾难让很多人失去了家园。

Zhè chǎng zāinàn ràng hěnduō rén shīqù le jiāyuán.

This disaster caused many people to lose their homes.

遇到灾害要保持冷静。

Yùdào zāihài yào bǎochí lěngjìng.

Stay calm when encountering a disaster.

Tips

usage

灾 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese — it usually combines into compounds: 灾难 (disaster), 灾害 (calamity), 火灾 (fire), 水灾 (flood), 天灾 (natural disaster).

culture

The traditional form 災 shows fire (火) under a roof (宀) — fire in the house is the original image of disaster.

Components

radical

火 huǒ

fire

Bottom fire — the indexing radical here. A pictograph of flames rising in three points with sparks at the base. The compound ideograph reads transparently as 'fire under the roof' = household disaster, the original calamity of agrarian life. Same family of fire chars: 灯 lamp, 炎 inflammation, 烧 burn, 烤 roast.

semantic

宀 mián

roof; house cover

Top roof radical — pictograph of a peaked house cover with two side walls. Marks the scene as something happening inside a building. Same radical anchors home-related characters: 家 home, 安 peace, 宿 lodge, 室 room. In 灾 it tells you the disaster strikes a dwelling.