嫡

dí
adjective #61,318

Meanings

  1. 1 of or by the legal wife (as opposed to a concubine)
  2. 2 of the main, direct line of descent; orthodox

Examples

HSK 5
家产传给嫡长子。
Jiāchǎn chuángěi dízhǎngzǐ.
The estate passed to the eldest son of the legal wife.
HSK 7-9
Tā shì zhè yí pài de díchuán dìzǐ.
He is a direct disciple in the orthodox line of this school.

Tips

culture
Under the old clan system 嫡 (children of the legal wife) outranked 庶 (children of concubines) in inheritance. By extension 嫡传 means the orthodox, directly handed-down line of a craft or school.

Components

radical
女 nǚ
woman
Left side is the woman radical 女, since the core sense concerns the legal wife and her line of descent.
phonetic
啇 dì
root; sound element
Right side 啇 is the sound element; the same phonetic builds 敌 and 滴, and gives 嫡 here.

Stroke Order

嫡 dí