家底 (jiā dǐ) — family financial reserves or assets; family wealth or patrimony

Definition

Literally 'family bottom,' 家底 refers to the total financial assets or savings a family has built up — the underlying wealth, not income. Compare 厚 (thick, large reserves) vs 薄 (thin, meager) — these are the standard collocations.

noun
family financial reserves or assetsfamily wealth or patrimony

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā men jiā jiā dǐ hěn hòu, bú yòng dān xīn xué fèi.
    Their family is well-off, so there's no worry about tuition.
  • 家底，。
    Tā jiā jiā dǐ báo, cóng xiǎo jiù hěn jié jiǎn.
    His family was financially strained, so he was thrifty from a young age.
  • 家底。
    Zhè cì tóu zī jī hū huā guāng le quán bù jiā dǐ.
    This investment nearly drained all the family's savings.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

家jiāfamily
底dǐbottom

家 means family and 底 means what is stored at the base, so it means a family's financial reserves.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →

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