cái
component #9,672

Meanings

  1. 1 money
  2. 2 wealth
  3. 3 riches

Examples

HSK 2
Fācái
to get rich
HSK 3
Cáifù
wealth; riches

Tips

culture
shell/money + talent. 恭喜发财 is the classic Chinese New Year greeting.

Components

radical
bèi
shell; money (early currency)
Shell/money radical on the left - the indexing radical and the heart of the meaning. Cowrie shells were the earliest standard currency in ancient China, and the radical labels as the broad category of valued things: money, goods, riches. Same family: (goods), (capital), (precious), (trade).
phonetic
cái
talent; just now
Right side supplies the sound cái directly with no drift - one of the cleanest phonetic pairings in the script. originally pictured a sprout breaking ground, the just-emerging seed of a thing. Its meaning 'talent' is unrelated here, though both readings share the everyday sense of 'what a person comes equipped with.'

Stroke Order

cái