玳

dài
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 hawksbill turtle; tortoiseshell

Examples

HSK 4
Dàimào xiànzài shì bǎohù dòngwù.
The hawksbill turtle is now a protected species.
HSK 7-9
Dàimào zuò de jiù shūzi hěn zhíqián.
Old combs made of tortoiseshell are very valuable.

Tips

culture
玳 is bound, used in 玳瑁 - the hawksbill sea turtle, whose patterned shell was prized for ornaments and luxury inlay. The word also names 玳瑁 as the tortoiseshell material itself.

Components

radical
王 yù
jade
The jade radical on the left, written like 王 but standing for 玉. It marks the character as a precious decorative material - tortoiseshell was treated like jade for ornaments. It groups 玳 with 瑁, 珠, and 玲.
phonetic
代 dài
phonetic component
Supplies the sound, read identically as dài. It works purely as a pronunciation marker for this material name, with no meaning contribution.

Stroke Order

玳 dài