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蚩

chī
noun #73,407

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) a kind of worm or insect
  2. 2 (classical) ignorant; foolish

Examples

蚩尤是传说中被黄帝打败的战神首领。
Chī yóu shì chuánshuō zhōng bèi Huángdì dǎbài de zhànshén shǒulǐng.
Chiyou was the war-god leader the Yellow Emperor defeated in legend.

Tips

history
蚩 is not used independently in modern Chinese. It survives chiefly in the mythological name 蚩尤 (Chiyou, the rebel war-god) and the bookish 蚩蚩 (dull, simple-minded). It is also the phonetic in 媸 (ugly).
register
Archaic and literary only, encountered as a legendary name or in old texts, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical
虫 chóng
insect; worm
The insect radical 虫 sits underneath and gives the core meaning: the original sense of 蚩 was a kind of worm.
phonetic
屮 chè
sprouting plant
The top is a sprout sign related to 之, which lent the old sound base; it sits above the insect element rather than carrying meaning here.

Stroke Order

蚩 chī