Meaning of 词
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- word
- statement; speech; lyrics
- a form of lyric poetry, flourishing in the Song dynasty 宋朝[Song4 chao2] (CL:首[shou3])
- old variant of 詞|词[ci2]
How to use 词
On its own, 词 means a word, but in everyday speech it often appears inside compounds like 生词 (shēngcí, new word), 歌词 (gēcí, lyrics) and 词典 (cídiǎn, dictionary). Example: 这个词是什么意思？(Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?) What does this word mean?
词 (cí) has the speech radical 讠 on the left, which marks things to do with language. The right side 司 (sī) also gives the sound, so think of words as speech that 司 is in charge of.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 词 (cí, word) with 字 (zì, character). 字 is a single written character, while 词 is a word that can be one or more characters. For example, 朋友 is one 词 but two 字.
词 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.
词 cí · word · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Related words
Words that share a character with 词.
| 词语 | cíyǔ | word (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases); term (e.g. technical |
| 词典 | cídiǎn | dictionary |
| 生词 | shēngcí | new word (in textbook); word that is unfamiliar or not yet studied |
| 词汇 | cíhuì | vocabulary; list of words (e.g. for language teaching purposes) |
| 歌词 | gēcí | song lyric; lyrics |
| 证词 | zhèngcí | testimony |
| 台词 | táicí | an actor's lines; dialogue; Taiwanese word |
| 单词 | dāncí | word |
| 供词 | gòngcí | confession; statement; Taiwan pr. [gong1ci2] |
| 用词 | yòngcí | usage (of a term); wording |
| 名词 | míngcí | (linguistics) noun; term (name for a concept) |
| 陈词滥调 | chéncílàndiào | cliché; commonplace |
Questions about 词
What does 词 mean?
词 (cí) means "word; statement; speech; lyrics" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 词?
词 is made of 1 character: 词 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 词 an HSK word?
Yes. 词 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 词 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 词 is written 詞.
What is the difference between 词 and 词语?
Both mean word. 词 is shorter and common in speech and compounds. 词语 (cíyǔ) sounds a bit more formal and can also cover short phrases, as in textbook exercises like 用下面的词语造句 (make sentences with the words below).
What does 词 mean in Chinese literature?
词 is also a form of lyric poetry that flourished in the Song dynasty 宋朝 (Sòngcháo). These poems were written to fit existing tunes, and they are counted with the measure word 首 (shǒu), as in 一首词 (yì shǒu cí).