曹 (cáo): Zhou Dynasty vassal state, class or grade, generation
曹 (cáo) is a Chinese character meaning “zhou dynasty vassal state.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 日 (structural). It ranks #1560 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- Zhou Dynasty vassal state
- class or grade
- generation
Stroke Order
Practice writing 曹 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 曹操 | cáo cāo | Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founde... |
| 阴曹 | yīn cáo | hell |
| 身在曹营心在汉phrase | shēn zài cáo yíng xīn zài hàn | live in Cao camp but have the heart in Han camp (idiom) |
| 曹不兴 | cáo bù xīng | Cao Buxing or Ts'ao Pu-hsing (active c. 210-250), famous semilegendary painter, one of the Four Great Painters of the... |
| 说曹操曹操就到 | shuō cáo cāo cáo cāo jiù dào | lit. speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives |
| 阴曹地府noun | yīn cáo dì fǔ | netherworld |
| 我曹pronoun | wǒ cáo | (archaic) we |
| 曹白鱼noun | cáo bái yú | Chinese herring (Ilisha elongata) |
| 军曹鱼 | jūn cáo yú | cobia or black kingfish (Rachycentron canadum) |
| 三曹 | sān cáo | the Three Caos (Cao Cao 曹操 and his sons Cao Pi 曹丕 and Cao Zhi 曹植), who established the Wei or Cao Wei dynasty 曹魏, and... |
| 市曹noun | shì cáo | market |
| 曹余章 | cáo yú zhāng | Cao Yuzhang (1924-1996), modern writer and publisher, author of Tales from 5000 Years of Chinese History 上下五千年[Shang4... |
| 说曹操，曹操到 | shuō cáo cāo , cáo cāo dào | see 說曹操曹操就到|说曹操曹操就到 |
| 曹参 | cáo cān | Cao Can (-190 BC), second chancellor of Han Dynasty, contributed to its founding by fighting on Liu Bang's 劉邦|刘邦[Liu2... |
| 萧规曹随phrase | xiāo guī cáo suí | lit. Xiao's 蕭何|萧何 governance followed by Cao 曹參|曹参 (idiom) |
曹 appears in 30 compound words: 57 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 23 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 曹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
了解曹字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè cáo zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "曹" helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
渣打推定息楼宇按揭 曹德明:可悭更多利息
zhā dǎ tuī dìng xī lóu yǔ àn jiē cáo dé míng : kě 悭 gēng duō lì xī
Standard Chartered Launches Fixed-Rate Mortgage; Cao Deming: You Can Save More on Interest
...“吃到1小吃”高度赞赏! 爆《机智医生》曹政奭有私房餐厅
. . . chī dào 1 xiǎo chī gāo dù zàn shǎng ! bào jī zhì yī shēng cáo zhèng 奭 yǒu sī fáng cān tīng
...“Eat 1 Snack” gives it high praise! Exclusive: “Smart Doctor” star Cho Jung-seok has a secret restaurant
东西问|丹麦汉学家曹伯义:陈季同如何向西方“自画”中国?
dōng xī wèn dān mài hàn xué jiā cáo bó yì : chén jì tóng rú hé xiàng xī fāng zì huà zhōng guó ?
Danish sinologist Cao Boyi: How did Chen Jitong "paint himself" China to the West?
烟仔虎与烟仔傻傻分不清?曹铭宗抓包转运站画错、口感大不同
yān zǐ hǔ yǔ yān zǐ shǎ shǎ fēn bù qīng ? cáo míng zōng zhuā bāo zhuǎn yùn zhàn huà cuò , kǒu gǎn dà bù tóng
Can't tell the difference between a smoker and a smoker? Cao Mingzong's bag grabbing and transfer station is wrong, and the taste is very different
曹观友:MRT接管后修订路线 槟轻快铁依法...
cáo guàn yǒu : M R T jiē guǎn hòu xiū dìng lù xiàn 槟 qīng kuài tiě yī fǎ . . .
Cao Guanyou: After the MRT took over, the route was revised and the Penang LRT was in accordance with the law...
匹诺曹，快道歉，不然就小心！
Pǐ nuò cáo, kuài dàoqiàn, bù rán jiù xiǎoxīn!
Pinocchio, apologize for that, or look out!
说曹操，曹操就到。
Shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo jiù dào.
Speak of the Devil and he doth appear.
这是曹操的奸计。
Zhè shì Cáo Cāo de jiānjì.
This is Cao Cao's trickery.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 曹 (cáo) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 曹 have?
What is the radical of 曹?
What are the components of 曹?
What are common words containing 曹?
What characters sound the same as 曹 (cáo)?
Is 曹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 曹 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.