曾

zēng / céng

prefix #643

Meanings

1 great- (in kinship terms, two generations removed)

Examples

HSK 6

他已经有曾孙了。

Tā yǐjīng yǒu zēngsūn le.

He already has a great-grandson.

HSK 7-9

我曾祖父今年九十岁了。

Wǒ zēngzǔfù jīnnián jiǔshí suì le.

My great-grandfather is ninety this year.

Tips

usage

As zēng (tone 1), 曾 is a kinship prefix meaning 'two generations beyond': 曾祖父 (great-grandfather), 曾祖母 (great-grandmother), 曾孙 (great-grandson), 曾外祖父 (maternal great-grandfather). The céng 'once / formerly' reading never appears in these compounds.

Also the surname 曾 (always tone 1), borne by Qing statesman 曾国藩, Northern Song essayist 曾巩, and Hong Kong figures like 曾荫权 and 曾志伟. The surname never takes the céng reading.

Components

radical

日 yuē

say; speak (here vessel base, indexing 曰 radical)

Bottom rectangle is the 曰 radical (Kangxi #73), originally the cauldron base of a steamer. The dictionary files 曾 under 曰 for both readings - same shape, same radical, only sound and sense diverge.

pictograph

曾 zēng

great- (kinship prefix); also surname Zeng

Same glyph as the céng reading - top 8 strokes are the fused steamer body (丷 cap = rising vapor, middle = chambered pot). The zēng reading is older: 'layered, doubled,' which is why it labels kinship two generations removed (great-grandfather = doubled grandfather). The 'once / formerly' sense (曾) is a later borrowing on the same graph.

Stroke Order