才 cái — talent, just · English

才

cái

talent, just

At a glance · 才

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

才字甲骨文象草木初生穿土之形，本义为草木初生，引申为才能、方才。金文、小篆承之。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

才本义为草木初生，引申为才能、刚刚。

Structure

才为象形字，描摹草木破土而出。

At a glance

Pinyincái

Radical扌

Strokes3

UnicodeU+624D

Character type象形

Theme其他

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English talent, just Cai was originally a pictograph of sprouting plants and extended to talent and just.

Français talent, juste Cai était à l'origine un pictogramme de plantes naissantes et a signifié talent et juste.

Español talento, apenas Cai era originalmente un pictograma de plantas brotando y pasó a talento y apenas.

العربية موهبة، للتو تساي كان في الأصل رسماً لنباتات نابتة ثم عنى الموهبة والتو.

Русский талант, только что Цай изначально было пиктограммой прорастающих растений и расширилось до таланта и «только что».

Common words

才能cái néngability
人才rén cáitalent

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