刹 meaning and stroke order
Temple, shrine, monastary; an instant, a moment; to brake
How to write 刹, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 刹
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Buddhist monastery, temple or shrine (abbr. for 剎多羅|刹多罗[cha4 duo1 luo2], Sanskrit "ksetra")
- to brake
How 刹 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Knife.
刂 gives the meaning and 杀 hints at the sound.
Radical: 刂 (knife), shared by 71 characters on this site.
How to remember 刹
刹 combines 杀 (shā, to kill), which gives the sound, with the knife radical 刂 on the right. Picture a knife cutting motion to a sudden stop: you slam the brakes and everything halts in an instant.
Read shā, it means to brake or stop, mostly in 刹车 (shāchē). Read chà, it appears in 刹那 (chànà, an instant) and in words for Buddhist temples, such as 古刹 (gǔchà, an ancient temple). Example: 他突然刹车了。(Tā tūrán shāchē le.) He suddenly hit the brakes.
Common mistake: Learners often read 刹那 as shānà, but in this word the character is chà, fourth tone. Also do not confuse 刹 with 杀 (shā, to kill); 刹 always has the knife radical 刂 on the right.
Common words with 刹
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
刹 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 刹
How many strokes are in 刹?
刹 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 刹 mean?
刹 (shā) means temple, shrine, monastary; an instant, a moment; to brake. A common word with it is 刹车 (shāchē), meaning "to brake (when driving); to stop".
How do you pronounce 刹?
刹 is pronounced shā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 刹?
The radical of 刹 is 刂, which carries the idea of "knife". Dictionaries list 刹 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 刹?
The traditional form of 刹 is 剎. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 刹 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 刹 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 刹 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I know whether to read 刹 as shā or chà?
Use shā when it means braking or stopping, as in 刹车 (shāchē). Use chà for the Buddhist meanings: temples, as in 古刹 (gǔchà), and instants, as in 刹那 (chànà).
Why does 刹那 mean an instant?
刹那 (chànà) is a sound borrowing of the Sanskrit word ksana, a Buddhist term for the shortest moment of time. It is often used as 一刹那 (yīchànà), meaning in the blink of an eye.