池

chí
noun HSK 5 #6,803

Meanings

  1. 1 pond; pool
  2. 2 reservoir; moat

Examples

HSK 3
Diànchí méi diàn le.
The battery is dead.
HSK 5
Yóuyǒngchí jīntiān kāifàng.
The swimming pool is open today.
HSK 7-9
Huāyuán lǐ yǒu yī gè xiǎo chítáng.
There is a small pond in the garden.

Tips

usage
池塘 = pond, 游泳池 = swimming pool, 电池 = battery. The water radical 氵 shows its connection to water.

Components

radical
氵 shuǐ
water (radical form of 水)
Left-side three-drop water radical, the side form of 水. Anchors 池 in the standing-water family - pond, pool, basin. Same radical drives 海 (sea), 河 (river), 湖 (lake), 江 (great river). 池 specifically denotes still or contained water (a pond) versus the flowing 河.
phonetic
也 yě
also; (classical particle)
Right side 也 supplies the sound (yě → chí, an initial drift but commonly seen in this phonetic family). 也 itself originally pictured a basin/snake - interestingly faint semantic echo for 'pond'. Same phonetic in 地 (ground), 他 (he), 她 (she), 弛 (relax).

Stroke Order

池 chí