驷

駟
sì
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 a team of four horses pulling one carriage

Examples

HSK 7-9
一言既出,驷马难追。
Yìyán jìchū, sìmǎ nánzhuī.
Once a word is spoken, even a team of four horses cannot catch it back.
HSK 7-9
Guìzú chéng zhe sìmǎ zhī chē chūxíng.
The nobleman rode out in a carriage drawn by four horses.

Tips

culture
Famous in the proverb 一言既出,驷马难追 - 'once a word leaves your mouth, not even a four-horse team can chase it down,' i.e. a promise made must be kept. A 驷 was the fastest thing of the ancient world.

Components

radical
马 mǎ
horse
Horse radical on the left, 马. It fixes the meaning on horses - specifically a hitched team of them. Same family as 驾 to harness, 骑 to ride, 驹 colt.
phonetic
四 sì
four
Right side 四 gives both the sound sì and the meaning at once: this is the word for exactly four horses, so the number 'four' is doing double duty as phonetic and meaning.

Stroke Order

驷 sì