测 (cè): to survey, to measure, to conjecture

测 (cè) is a Chinese character meaning “to survey.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 则 (phonetic). It ranks #861 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 测 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to survey
  2. to measure
  3. to conjecture

Etymology & Origin

测

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵则 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Practice writing 测 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 测

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
测试verbcè shìto test (machinery etc)5
检测verbjiǎn cèto test6
预测verbyù cèto forecast5
猜测verbcāi cèto guess6
推测verbtuī cèspeculation6
测量verbcè liángsurvey6
监测verbjiān cèto monitor6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
测验verbcè yàntest
探测器nountàn cè qìdetector
探测verbtàn cèto probe
不测adjectivebù cèunexpected
观测nounguān cèto observe
测定verbcè dìngto determine (by measuring or surveying)
勘测verbkān cèto investigate
揣测verbchuǎi cèto guess
民意测验nounmín yì cè yànopinion poll
检测器jiǎn cè qìdetector
测算verbcè suànto take measurements and calculate
测评verbcè píngto test and evaluate
臆测verbyì cèto speculate
目测verbmù cèto estimate visually
测速verbcè sùto measure speed
100
Total compounds
31
As first character
40
As last character
29
As middle character

测 appears in 100 compound words: 31 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 29 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 测 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

试shì
0.62341,942 co-occurrences
检jiǎn
0.61134,699 co-occurrences
观guān
0.59422,376 co-occurrences
探tàn
0.59118,818 co-occurrences
猜cāi
0.5674,712 co-occurrences
酸suān
0.55111,038 co-occurrences
绘huì
0.5254,778 co-occurrences
勘kān
0.5253,222 co-occurrences
核hé
0.50611,342 co-occurrences
量liàng
0.50428,582 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (11)

变化莫测biànhuàmòcèHSK 7+

to be unpredictable and changeable

phrase
变幻莫测biànhuànmòcèHSK 7+

to be unpredictable and changeable

phrase
高深莫测gāoshēnmòcèHSK 7+

too profound to be understood; enigmatic; unfathomable

phrase
民意测验mínyì cèyànHSK 5+

opinion poll

noun
莫测高深mòcègāoshēnHSK 7+

too profound to be understood; enigmatic; unfathomable

phrase
人心难测rén xīn nán cèHSK 5+

hard to fathom a person's mind (idiom)

phrase
深不可测shēnbùkěcèHSK 5+

unfathomable; impossible to understand

phrase
神秘莫测shénmìmòcèHSK 7+

mysterious; unpredictable; inscrutable

phrase
智力测验zhì lì cè yànHSK 5+

intelligence test

phrase
居心叵测jūxīnpǒcèHSK 5+

to harbor sinister intentions difficult to guess

phrase
心怀叵测xīnhuáipǒcèHSK 5+

to harbour unfathomable motives; to have sinister intentions

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

站在桥上望去,测水缓缓向东流去。

zhàn zài qiáo shǎng wàng qù , cè shuǐ huǎn huǎn xiàng dōng liú qù .

Standing on the bridge, I watched the river flow gently eastward.

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

...业信心指数为102,低于之前的105。预测值为104。

. . . yè xìn xīn zhǐ shǔ wéi 1 0 2 , dī yú zhī qián de 1 0 5 . yù cè zhí wéi 1 0 4 .

... The industry confidence index was 102, down from 105 previously. The predicted value is 104.

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

【财圈识真假】“水记”赤马红羊年运数预测

cái juān shí zhēn jiǎ shuǐ jì chì mǎ hóng yáng nián yùn shǔ yù cè

【Financial Circle Knows True and False】"Water Record" Red Horse Red Sheep Annual Fortune Prediction

InvestingFeb 2026

押风口!这些基金经理四季度就预测机器人板块火爆

yā fēng kǒu ! zhè xiē jī jīn jīng lǐ sì jì dù jiù yù cè jī qì rén bǎn kuài huǒ bào

Press the wind! These fund managers predicted that the robot sector would be hot in the fourth quarter

東森新聞Feb 2026

WBC/大联盟官网预测! 中华队晋级 力压南韩队

W B C dà lián méng guān wǎng yù cè ! zhōng huá duì jìn jí lì yā nán hán duì

WBC/Major League Baseball official website predictions! The Chinese team advanced to beat the South Korean team

百度新闻Feb 2026

...师发成绩工具Top1-5榜单,一线教师亲测5款发..

. . . shī fā chéng jì gōng jù T o p 1 5 bǎng dān , yī xiàn jiào shī qīn cè 5 kuǎn fā . .

... Teacher Performance Tool Top 1-5 List, 5 Front-line Teachers Personally Tested:

Tatoeba

爱因斯坦预测太阳的引力会弯曲光线。

àiyīnsītǎn yùcè tàiyang de yǐnlì huì wānqū guāngxiàn.

Einstein predicted that the Sun's gravity would bend light.

Tatoeba

她完全不担心测验的分数。

Tā wánquán bù dānxīn cèyàn de fēnshù.

She is not in the least worried about her test scores.

Tatoeba

三次测量,一次切除。

Sāncì cèliáng, yīcì qiēchú.

Measure thrice, cut once.

Tatoeba

她几乎确定会通过测验。

Tā jīhū quèdìng huì tōngguò cèyàn.

She'll almost certainly pass the test.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced cè

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 测 (cè) mean in Chinese?
测 (cè) primarily means "to survey." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #861 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 测 have?
测 is written with 9 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 测?
The radical associated with 测 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 测?
测 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 则 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵则 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 测?
Common words with 测 include: 测试 (cè shì, "to test (machinery etc)"); 检测 (jiǎn cè, "to test"); 预测 (yù cè, "to forecast"); 猜测 (cāi cè, "to guess"); 推测 (tuī cè, "speculation"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 测 (cè)?
Several characters share the pronunciation cè: 侧 (the side), 厕 ((bound form) restroom), 策 (policy), 册 (book). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 测 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 测 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 测 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.