最

zuì
adverb HSK 2 #95

Meanings

  1. 1 most
  2. 2 -est (superlative)

Characters

日 (sun) + 取 (to take) - taking the sun, reaching the highest point.

Examples

HSK 1
Tā shì zuì hǎo de xuésheng.
He is the best student.
HSK 1
Nǐ zuì xǐhuan shénme?
What do you like the most?
HSK 2
Zhè shì zuìhòu yī cì.
This is the last time.

Tips

grammar
Chinese superlatives are simple: 最 + adjective. No irregular forms: 最好 (best), 最大 (biggest), 最多 (most).

Components

radical
曰 yuē
say; (here: head-cover graphic)
Top indexing radical 曰 - visually identical to 日 (sun) in modern fonts but a separate Kangxi radical (a mouth with a tongue/breath stroke). Here it is purely an indexing assignment; the original top of 最 was a helmet/cover graphic that the script regularised into this 曰-shape over time.
semantic
取 qǔ
take; seize
Bottom 取 - to seize, originally an ear (耳) being taken by a hand (又), referencing the ancient practice of cutting off enemy ears as battlefield trophies. Combined with the helmet-cover above, the original sense of 最 was 'most prized capture' - the best, the topmost, the superlative. Modern usage is purely the superlative marker (most, -est).

Stroke Order

最 zuì