Meaning of 室
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- room
- work unit
- grave
- scabbard
- family or clan
- one of the 28 constellations of Chinese astronomy
- surname Shi
How to use 室
室 is rarely used alone in speech. It usually appears as the last part of a word naming a specific kind of room, like 教室 (jiàoshì, classroom) or 办公室 (bàngōngshì, office). Example: 我在办公室等你。(Wǒ zài bàngōngshì děng nǐ.) I will wait for you in the office.
室 has a roof 宀 on top and 至 (zhì, to arrive) underneath. Picture the place you arrive at under a roof: a room.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 室 (shì) with 屋 (wū, house or room), which has 尸 on top instead of the roof 宀. Another common slip is reading 室 with a third tone. It is fourth tone, shì.
室 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
室 shì · room · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 室.
| 办公室 | bàngōngshì | office; business premises |
| 教室 | jiàoshì | classroom |
| 实验室 | shíyànshì | laboratory |
| 卧室 | wòshì | bedroom |
| 阅览室 | yuèlǎnshì | reading room |
| 地下室 | dìxiàshì | basement; cellar |
| 浴室 | yùshì | bathroom; shower room (CL:間|间[jian1]); bathhouse |
| 皇室 | huángshì | royal family; imperial household |
| 更衣室 | gēngyīshì | change room; dressing room; locker room; (euphemism) toilet |
| 手术室 | shǒushùshì | operating room |
| 温室 | wēnshì | greenhouse |
| 寝室 | qǐnshì | bedroom; dormitory |
Questions about 室
What does 室 mean?
室 (shì) means "room; work unit" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 室?
室 is made of 1 character: 室 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 室 an HSK word?
Yes. 室 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 室 and 房间?
房间 (fángjiān) is the everyday spoken word for a room, as in 我的房间 (my room). 室 is more formal and mostly forms compound words for rooms with a purpose, such as 卧室 (wòshì, bedroom) or 实验室 (shíyànshì, laboratory).
How is 室 used in apartment descriptions?
In housing ads, 室 counts bedrooms. For example, 两室一厅 (liǎng shì yì tīng) means two bedrooms and one living room.