Meaning of 礼
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- gift
- rite
- ceremony
- propriety
- etiquette
- courtesy
Measure word: 份
- surname Li
- abbr. for 禮記|礼记[Li3 ji4], Classic of Rites
How to use 礼
礼 rarely stands alone in everyday speech. It usually appears in compounds like 礼物 (lǐwù, gift), 礼貌 (lǐmào, polite), and 婚礼 (hūnlǐ, wedding). Example: 这是我送你的礼物。(Zhè shì wǒ sòng nǐ de lǐwù.) This is the gift I am giving you.
礼 (lǐ) has the 礻 radical on the left, a form of 示 (shì) that appears in characters about rites and worship. Picture yourself kneeling at an altar beside it to show respect, which links to ceremony, courtesy, and gifts.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 衤 (clothing radical, with two dots) instead of 礻 (one dot), which turns it into a wrong character. Also keep the third tone in lǐ, and do not confuse it with 里 (lǐ, inside), which sounds the same.
礼 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.
礼 lǐ · gift · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 礼.
| 礼物 | lǐwù | gift; present |
| 婚礼 | hūnlǐ | wedding ceremony; wedding |
| 礼貌 | lǐmào | courtesy; politeness; manners; courteous; polite |
| 礼拜 | lǐbài | to attend a religious service; (coll.) week |
| 典礼 | diǎnlǐ | ceremony; celebration |
| 礼堂 | lǐtáng | assembly hall; auditorium |
| 送礼 | sònglǐ | to give a present |
| 葬礼 | zànglǐ | burial; funeral |
| 礼服 | lǐfú | ceremonial robe; formal attire (dinner suit, evening gown etc) |
| 敬礼 | jìnglǐ | to salute; salute |
| 洗礼 | xǐlǐ | (lit. and fig.) baptism |
| 礼仪 | lǐyí | etiquette; ceremony |
Questions about 礼
What does 礼 mean?
礼 (lǐ) means "gift; rite" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 礼?
礼 is made of 1 character: 礼 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 礼 an HSK word?
Yes. 礼 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 礼 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 礼 is written 禮.
Why does 礼拜 (lǐbài) mean week?
礼拜 originally means attending a religious service, which happens weekly, so in colloquial speech it came to mean week. You will hear 礼拜一 (lǐbàiyī) for Monday, though 星期一 (xīngqīyī) is more standard.
How do I say someone is polite or rude using 礼?
Use 有礼貌 (yǒu lǐmào) for polite and 没礼貌 (méi lǐmào) or 不礼貌 (bù lǐmào) for rude. For example, 他很有礼貌。(Tā hěn yǒu lǐmào.) means He is very polite.