p8nda
p8nda BETA
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赐

賜
cì
verb HSK 7-9 #4,627

Meanings

  1. 1 to confer
  2. 2 to bestow
  3. 3 to grant

Examples

皇帝赐给他一把宝剑。
Huángdì cì gěi tā yībǎ bǎojiàn.
The emperor bestowed a precious sword upon him.
请多多赐教。
Qǐng duōduō cìjiào.
Please bestow your guidance upon me.
上天赐给了我们一个美好的日子。
Shàngtiān cì gěi le wǒmen yīgè měihǎo de rìzi.
Heaven bestowed upon us a beautiful day.

Tips

history
赐 was traditionally used for gifts from a superior (emperor, god) to an inferior. In modern Chinese, it retains this hierarchical feel and is used in polite/humble expressions or historical contexts.

Components

radical
贝 bèi
shell; cowrie; money
Left 贝 — the cowrie/money radical, indexing radical for 赐. Cowrie shells were ancient currency; the radical marks 赐 as a gift-giving / wealth-transfer word. Same family as 财 (wealth), 货 (goods), 购 (buy), 贵 (precious), 赠 (gift). Royal bestowal was historically a transfer of valuables, hence the cowrie imagery.
phonetic
易 yì
easy; change
Right phonetic 易 — supplies the sound (yì → cì, with palatal-affricate shift; same phonetic series gives 锡 xī, 蜴 yì). 易 itself meant 'change, exchange,' fitting the giving-as-transfer sense of 赐. Combined image: a precious cowrie that changes hands — moving from a superior to an inferior as a bestowal.

Stroke Order

赐 cì