祀 meaning and stroke order
To sacrifice, to worship
How to write 祀, stroke by stroke
7 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
- 7
Meaning of 祀
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to sacrifice
- to offer libation to
- variant of 祀[si4]
How 祀 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Spirit.
礻 gives the meaning and 巳 hints at the sound.
Radical: 礻 (spirit), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 祀
The left side 礻 is the spirit radical, used in characters about gods and rituals, and the right side 巳 (sì) gives the sound. Picture making an offering to the spirits that sounds like sì.
祀 is a formal, literary character and is rarely used alone in modern speech. You will mostly meet it in the word 祭祀 (jìsì), talking about ancestor worship, temples, or history. Example: 古人很重视祭祀。(Gǔrén hěn zhòngshì jìsì.) People in ancient times placed great importance on sacrificial rites.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse the right part 巳 (sì) with 己 (jǐ) or 已 (yǐ). In 巳 the stroke closes fully at the top, so the right side should look like a closed hook. Also do not write the left side as 衤 (clothing), which has an extra dot.
Common words with 祀
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 祭祀 | jìsì | to offer sacrifices to the gods or ancestors | HSK 7-9 |
祀 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 祀
How many strokes are in 祀?
祀 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 祀 mean?
祀 (sì) means to sacrifice, to worship. A common word with it is 祭祀 (jìsì), meaning "to offer sacrifices to the gods or ancestors".
How do you pronounce 祀?
祀 is pronounced sì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 祀?
The radical of 祀 is 礻, which carries the idea of "spirit". Dictionaries list 祀 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 祀?
The traditional form of 祀 is 禩. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 祀 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 祀 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 祀 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 祭 (jì) and 祀 (sì)?
Both relate to offering sacrifices, and together they form 祭祀 (jìsì). In modern Chinese 祭 is more productive on its own, as in 祭拜 (jìbài, to worship) or 祭奠 (jìdiàn, to hold a memorial), while 祀 almost always appears inside 祭祀 or in classical texts.
Is 祀 related to the number 四 (sì) or the word 死 (sǐ)?
No. 祀 shares the sound sì with 四 only by coincidence, and 死 (sǐ, to die) has a different tone and different parts. The sound of 祀 comes from its component 巳 (sì).