zhái /
popculture #90,143

Meanings

  1. 1 Zhai (a Chinese surname)

Examples

Zhái lǎoshī shì wǒmen xīn de lìshǐ lǎoshī.
Mr. Zhai is our new history teacher.
Wǒmen bān yǒu gè xìng Zhái de tóngxué.
There is a classmate named Zhai in our class.

Tips

mistakes
As a living surname, is most often read Zhái. A minority of families read it Dí. When unsure, politely ask the person; both readings are correct for different families.

Components

radical
feathers
is the feather radical on top. The character first meant a long-tailed pheasant, so the bird's plumes sit above; the surname use borrows that older graph.
semantic
zhuī
short-tailed bird
means 'a bird'. Feathers over a bird together picture the long-tailed pheasant that originally named, before it became a family name.

Stroke Order

zhái