寺 meaning and stroke order
Buddhist temple; mosque; government office (old)
How to write 寺, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 寺
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Buddhist temple
- mosque
- government office (old)
How 寺 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. An offering 土 in your hand 寸.
Radical: 寸 (inch), shared by 18 characters on this site.
How to remember 寺
The top part 土 (tǔ) is read here as an offering, and the bottom part 寸 (cùn) is a hand. Picture someone holding up an offering in their hand at a temple, and you have 寺 (sì).
寺 usually appears in compound words or in the names of specific temples, such as 寺庙 (sìmiào) or 少林寺 (Shàolín Sì). It is also used for mosques in 清真寺 (qīngzhēnsì). Example: 我们周末去寺庙看看。(Wǒmen zhōumò qù sìmiào kànkan.) We are going to visit a temple this weekend.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 寺 (sì) with 时 (shí, time) and 诗 (shī, poem), because both contain 寺 as a part but have different sounds and meanings. Also keep the tone fourth, sì, not shí or shì.
Common words with 寺
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
寺 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 寺
Learning 寺 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 寺
How many strokes are in 寺?
寺 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 寺 mean?
寺 (sì) means Buddhist temple; mosque; government office (old). A common word with it is 寺庙 (sìmiào), meaning "temple; monastery".
How do you pronounce 寺?
寺 is pronounced sì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 寺?
The radical of 寺 is 寸, which carries the idea of "inch". Dictionaries list 寺 under this radical.
Is 寺 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 寺 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What is the difference between 寺 and 庙?
寺 (sì) mainly refers to a Buddhist temple or monastery, and it also appears in 清真寺 for mosques. 庙 (miào) is broader and often means a temple for gods, ancestors, or famous people. In everyday speech they are often combined as 寺庙 (sìmiào).
Why does a mosque use the character 寺?
In the old sense, 寺 could mean a government office or an official building, and later it came to mean a religious building in general. So 清真寺 (qīngzhēnsì) literally means a pure and true temple, the standard word for a mosque.