字 (zì): character

Meanings

1 character
2 word
3 letter

Characters

字

zì

character; word; letter

Roof radical 宀 (house) + 子 (child) — a child born under a roof, like characters are 'born' from writing.

Examples

这个字怎么读？

Zhège zì zěnme dú?

How do you read this character?

我不认识这个字。

Wǒ bú rènshi zhège zì.

I don't recognize this character.

你的字写得很好。

Nǐ de zì xiě de hěn hǎo.

Your handwriting is very good.

Tips

usage

字 shows 子 (child) under 宀 (roof) — a child learning to write characters under a roof (at school/home).

culture

汉字 (Chinese characters) is one of the oldest writing systems still in use, with over 3,000 years of continuous history.

Components

radical

宀 mián

roof

Roof radical — three strokes drawing a peaked roof with eaves. Anchors 字 in the dwelling family alongside 家 (home), 安 (peace), 室 (room), 守 (guard), 客 (guest). Original 字 meant 'to give birth at home' (child sheltered under a roof); meaning extended to 'character/written word' — characters as offspring.

semantic

子 zǐ

child

Bottom child component — pictograph of an infant in swaddling: head and arms above, legs wrapped below. Under 宀 it gives 'a child born indoors,' the original sense of 字. The shift to 'character' came from 'breeding more characters' — derived forms were 'children' of root chars.