茨 meaning and stroke order
Thatching; caltrop, Tribulus terrestris
How to write 茨, stroke by stroke
9 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
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- 8
- 9
Meaning of 茨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- Caltrop or puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris)
- to thatch (a roof)
How 茨 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Grass.
艹 gives the meaning and 次 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 茨
The grass radical 艹 on top tells you this is a plant, and 次 (cì) underneath gives the sound cí. Picture grass bundled again and again, one layer after the next, to thatch a roof.
茨 is rare in everyday speech and appears mostly in plant names, classical texts, and place or personal names. It is also common in transliterations of foreign names, such as 茨威格 (Cíwēigé, Zweig). Example: 蒺藜又叫茨。(Jílí yòu jiào cí.) The caltrop is also called cí.
Common mistake: Learners often read 茨 as cì because of its phonetic 次, but 茨 is second tone, cí. Do not confuse it with 瓷 (cí, porcelain), which has the same sound but uses 瓦 at the bottom instead of 艹 on top.
茨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 茨
How many strokes are in 茨?
茨 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 茨 mean?
茨 (cí) means thatching; caltrop, Tribulus terrestris.
How do you pronounce 茨?
茨 is pronounced cí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 茨?
The radical of 茨 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 茨 under this radical.
Where do I see 茨 most often in modern Chinese?
Mostly in transliterated foreign names and places, for example 茨威格 (Cíwēigé, Stefan Zweig). You may also see it in place names and older literary phrases about thatched huts.
What is the common modern word for the caltrop plant?
Today people usually call it 蒺藜 (jílí). 茨 alone for the plant sounds classical, as in the Book of Songs line 墙有茨 (qiáng yǒu cí), there is caltrop on the wall.