黛 meaning and stroke order
To blacken one's eyebrows; black
How to write 黛, stroke by stroke
17 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 黛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) dark pigment traditionally used to paint the eyebrows
How 黛 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Black.
黑 gives the meaning and 代 hints at the sound.
Radical: 黑 (black), shared by 17 characters on this site.
How to remember 黛
黛 is 代 (dài) sitting on top of 黑 (hēi, black). 代 gives the sound dài, and 黑 tells you the meaning: a black pigment for painting the eyebrows.
黛 is a literary character. You mostly see it in poetry, in descriptions of a woman's eyebrows, or for dark blue-black mountain colors. It also appears in names, most famously 林黛玉 (Lín Dàiyù) from Dream of the Red Chamber. Example: 远山如黛 (yuǎn shān rú dài) The distant mountains are dark as eyebrow paint.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 黛 as hēi because of the 黑 at the bottom. The sound actually comes from 代 on top, so it is dài with a fourth tone. Also keep 代 on top and 黑 below. Do not put them side by side.
黛 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 黛
How many strokes are in 黛?
黛 is written with 17 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 黛 mean?
黛 (dài) means to blacken one's eyebrows; black.
How do you pronounce 黛?
黛 is pronounced dài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 黛?
The radical of 黛 is 黑, which carries the idea of "black". Dictionaries list 黛 under this radical.
What does 粉黛 (fěndài) mean?
粉黛 literally means face powder and eyebrow paint. In literary Chinese it stands for beautiful women, as in the line 六宫粉黛无颜色 from a Tang poem by Bai Juyi.
Is 黛 used for colors other than black?
Yes. In literary descriptions 黛 often means a deep blue-black or dark green-black, like the color of distant hills or thick foliage. The word 黛色 (dàisè) describes this dark bluish color.