材

cái
noun #13,175

Meanings

  1. 1 material; stuff
  2. 2 talent; ability
  3. 3 timber

Examples

HSK 3
Lǎoshī yīnggāi yīncái-shījiào.
Teachers should teach each student according to their ability.
HSK 4
Wǒmen xūyào gèngduō de cáiliào.
We need more materials.

Tips

usage
材 is mainly used in compounds: 材料 (material), 人才 (talent / talented person), 木材 (timber), 教材 (teaching material), 器材 (equipment).

Components

radical
木 mù
tree; wood
Wood radical on the left - pictograph of a tree with branches above and roots below. Indexes 材 in the wood family with 林 grove, 板 board, 桌 table. Marks the character as something derived from trees: timber and, by extension, any raw material.
phonetic
才 cái
talent; just now
Right side 才 supplies the sound cái directly, no drift. 才 also adds a strong semantic flavour - innate ability or quality. The two senses of 材 (timber and talent) fall out cleanly: useful wood and useful human ability are the same metaphor in classical Chinese.

Stroke Order

材 cái