Meaning of 寺
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- Buddhist temple
- mosque
- government office (old)
How to use 寺
寺 usually appears in names of specific temples or in compounds like 寺庙 (sìmiào) and 寺院 (sìyuàn). It also covers mosques in the word 清真寺 (qīngzhēnsì). Example: 我们去少林寺看功夫。(Wǒmen qù Shàolín Sì kàn gōngfu.) We went to the Shaolin Temple to watch kung fu.
寺 is built from 土 (earth) on top and 寸 (a small hand measure) below. Picture a careful hand measuring out the ground where a temple will stand.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 寺 with 等 (děng) and 诗 (shī), which contain 寺 as a part, or misread it with a fourth-tone shì. Remember that 寺 alone is always sì, the same sound as 四 (sì, four).
寺 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.
寺 sì · Buddhist temple · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 寺.
Questions about 寺
What does 寺 mean?
寺 (sì) means "Buddhist temple; mosque" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 寺?
寺 is made of 1 character: 寺 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 寺 an HSK word?
Yes. 寺 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 寺 only used for Buddhist temples?
Mostly, but not only. 清真寺 (qīngzhēnsì) means mosque, and in old Chinese 寺 could also mean a government office. Taoist temples are usually called 观 (guàn) or 宫 (gōng) instead.
Can I use 寺 by itself in conversation?
It is rarely used alone in speech. People say 寺庙 (sìmiào) for temples in general, or attach 寺 to a name, as in 少林寺 (Shàolín Sì).