标

標
biāo
noun HSK 7-9 #4,910

Meanings

  1. 1 mark; sign; label
  2. 2 standard; criterion
  3. 3 to mark; to indicate

Examples

HSK 4
Zhè shì biāozhǔn dá'àn.
This is the standard answer.
HSK 5
Qǐng kàn lùshàng de biāozhì.
Please look at the signs on the road.

Tips

usage
标 forms many compounds: 标准 (biāozhǔn, standard), 目标 (mùbiāo, goal/target), 标志 (biāozhì, sign/logo), 标题 (biāotí, title/headline), 商标 (shāngbiāo, trademark).

Components

radical
木 mù
tree; wood
Left radical 木 (tree) anchors 标 in its original sense: the very tip of a tree branch - by extension, the visible 'top mark' of anything. From there came 'sign, label, indicator, criterion'. The wood radical groups 标 with the tree family - 树 (tree), 林 (forest), 枝 (branch), 根 (root) - and pinpoints 标 as the topmost branch tip.
semantic
示 shì
to show; display
Right 示 (show) reinforces the 'display, indicator' meaning: a 标 is what is shown at the top of a tree or pole as a marker. Traditional 標 used 票 phonetic; simplified 标 swapped in 示, landing on a lucky 'tree + showing' semantic compound - a visible signpost in the branches.

Stroke Order

标 biāo