柴

chái
noun #10,493

Meanings

  1. 1 firewood
  2. 2 lean (meat)

Examples

HSK 2
Zhè kuài ròu tài chái le, bù hǎochī.
This meat is too lean and dry, so it doesn't taste good.
HSK 5
Wǒmen jiǎn le yìxiē chái lái shēnghuǒ.
We gathered some firewood to make a fire.

Tips

memory
此 (this) + 木 (wood) - this wood is for burning

Components

radical
木 mù
tree; wood
Bottom tree radical - a pictograph of trunk, branches, and roots. Indexes 柴 in the wood family alongside 林 forest, 树 tree, 板 plank. Carries the whole meaning: firewood is broken-up wood, kindling for the hearth, the most ordinary form trees take in daily life.
phonetic
此 cǐ
this
Top 此 supplies the sound: cǐ drifted to chái through a well-attested c/ch alternation with vowel shift. The same phonetic appears in 雌 female and 紫 purple, giving a small chái/cí/zǐ family. No semantic contribution here - purely a sound marker stacked above the meaning piece.

Stroke Order

柴 chái