猜 (cāi) — to guess
Definition
The everyday word for 'to guess' — used casually, like solving a riddle or guessing someone's age. The siblings 猜测, 推测, 猜想, and 揣测 are more formal/written, often meaning 'to conjecture or infer'.
verb
to guess
Examples
- 猜。Nǐ cāi yí xià zhè ge mí yǔ.Try to guess this riddle.
- 猜。Wǒ cāi duì le tā de nián líng.I guessed her age correctly.
- 猜。Tā cāi cuò le dá àn.He guessed the answer wrong.
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.
猜 pairs 犭, the dog radical (full form 犬), with 青 as the sound part.
Appears in
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