帝 (dì) — (bound form) emperor; (bound form) god, deity; (bound form) imperial (as in empire)
Definition
A bound morpheme meaning 'emperor' or 'imperial', used mainly in compounds like 帝国 ('empire'). The second sense, 'god' (e.g. 上帝 'God'), is unrelated in origin and appears only in this religious term.
bound form
emperorgoddeityimperial (as in empire)
Easily confused
- 旁pánglook-alike(bound form) side; lateral
- 地dìsound-alike(noun) ground, land, floor (as a surface)
- 啼tílook-aliketo cry, to weep aloud
- 第dìsound-alike(prefix) used before a number to form ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.)
- 蒂dìlook-alike(bound form) stem (of fruit, flower, melon)
- 递dìsound-aliketo hand over, to pass (something to someone), to deliver
Examples
- 。Zhōng guó lì shǐ shàng yǒu hěn duō huáng dì.There were many emperors in Chinese history.
- 帝。Tā měi tiān xiàng shàng dì qí dǎo.He prays to God every day.
- 。Luó mǎ dì guó céng jīng fēi cháng qiáng dà.The Roman Empire was once very powerful.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
丄丄shàngup; above
Sound part声符shēngfú
朿
朿cì帝dì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
帝 originally drew a flower calyx, the part joining blossom to stem. The 丄 and 朿 breakdown is mistaken.
Appears in
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