低 (dī): low

Meanings

1 low
2 beneath

Characters

低

dī

low; to lower

Person radical 亻 + 氐 (base/bottom) — a person bending down low.

Examples

今天气温很低。

Jīntiān qìwēn hěn dī.

The temperature is very low today.

这个价格太低了。

Zhège jiàgé tài dī le.

This price is too low.

他低着头走路。

Tā dī zhe tóu zǒulù.

He walked with his head lowered.

Tips

usage

高 (high) and 低 (low). Used for temperature, price, voice, quality, position, and height (of things, not people).

mistakes

For people's height, use 矮 (short), not 低. 低 is for abstract or measurable things.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical form)

Left person radical, the side-form of 人. Marks 低 as a human-position or human-quality character: a person bending or stooping low. Same radical anchors 你 (you), 他 (he), 住 (reside), 倒 (fall).

phonetic

氐 dī

base; root

Right-side 氐 supplies the sound, matching the parent's dī exactly with no tone shift. Beyond sound, 氐 originally meant 'root, base, foundation' — what is at the bottom — so it doubles as semantic. The whole graph reads 'a person at the base = low, stoop, hang down.' Same dī phonetic: 底 (bottom), 抵 (resist).