瓷 (cí): chinaware, porcelain, china

瓷 (cí) is a Chinese character meaning “chinaware.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 次 (phonetic) and 瓦 (semantic). It ranks #2228 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 瓷 pottery. Its radical form 瓦 (tile) appears in many related characters such as 瓶 (píng, bottle), 瓦 (wǎ, roof tile).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 6 Radical: 瓦 tile10 strokesFrequency #2228次 phonetic 瓦 semantic

Definitions

chinaware
porcelain
china

Etymology & Origin

瓷

pictophoneticpottery

Decomposition: ⿱次瓦 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:次phonetic 瓦semantic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 瓷

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
瓷器noun	cí qì	chinaware	6

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
瓷砖noun	cí zhuān	ceramic tile
陶瓷noun	táo cí	pottery and porcelain
搪瓷noun	táng cí	enamel
瓷碗noun	cí wǎn	porcelain bowl
青花瓷noun	qīng huā cí	blue and white porcelain
青瓷noun	qīng cí	celadon (pottery)
半导瓷	bàn dǎo cí	semiconducting ceramic (electronics)
卫生陶瓷	wèi shēng táo cí	chamber pot
瓷实adjective	cí shi	(dialect) firm
碰瓷儿verb	pèng cí r	erhua form of 碰瓷
精密陶瓷	jīng mì táo cí	fine ceramics (used for dental implants, synthetic bones, electronics, knife blades etc)
白瓷	bái cí	blanc de chine (porcelain)
薄胎瓷器	bó tāi cí qì	eggshell china
陶瓷器noun	táo cí qì	pottery
骨瓷noun	gǔ cí	bone china (fine white porcelain made from a mixture of clay and bone ash)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

瓷 appears in 20 compound words: 35 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 15 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 瓷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

陶táo

0.74710,960 co-occurrences

烯xī

0.73610 co-occurrences

猩xīng

0.70210 co-occurrences

窑yáo

0.5951,011 co-occurrences

砖zhuān

0.5461,042 co-occurrences

器qì

0.5116,028 co-occurrences

碗wǎn

0.500426 co-occurrences

墨mò

0.48210 co-occurrences

青qīng

0.4673,354 co-occurrences

璃lí

0.451327 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

瓷字在日常生活中使用频率较低。

cí zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ jiào dī .

The character "瓷" is not frequently used in everyday life.

It之家Mar 2026

...上架:搭 2800W 石墨烯 PTC 陶瓷制热模块、双直流变频电机,首发价 709...

. . . shàng jià : dā 2 8 0 0 W shí mò 烯 P T C táo cí zhì rè mó kuài , shuāng zhí liú biàn pín diàn jī , shǒu fā jià 7 0 9 . . .

...Now available: Features a 2800W graphene PTC ceramic heating module and dual DC brushless motors, launch price 709...

It之家Mar 2026

“迄今最坚韧”康宁大猩猩玻璃陶瓷 3 发布:超 2 米高度跌落混凝土表面...

qì jīn zuì jiān rèn kāng nìng dà xīng xīng bō lí táo cí 3 fā bù : chāo 2 mǐ gāo dù diē luò hùn níng tǔ biǎo miàn . . .

"The Toughest Yet": Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 Unveiled: Survives a Drop from Over 2 Meters onto Concrete...

It之家Feb 2026

京瓷在日本推出 au TORQUE G07 ...

jīng cí zài rì běn tuī chū a u T O R Q U E G 0 7 . . .

Kyocera launches au TORQUE G07 in Japan ...

Vietnam+Feb 2026

钵场陶瓷里的越南气魄

钵 chǎng táo cí lǐ de yuè nán qì pò

The Vietnamese spirit in bowl ceramics

百度新闻Feb 2026

排山倒海扑面而来!六百只宋代瓷碗在这叠成墙

pái shān dǎo hǎi pū miàn ér lái ! liù bǎi zhī sòng dài cí wǎn zài zhè dié chéng qiáng

A tidal wave of porcelain bowls surges toward you! Six hundred Song Dynasty porcelain bowls have been stacked to form a wall.

Tatoeba

我对東方陶瓷有兴趣。

Wǒ duì dōngfāng táocí yǒuxìngqù.

I'm interested in oriental pottery.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 瓷 (cí) mean in Chinese?

瓷 (cí) primarily means "chinaware." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2228 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 瓷 and 资?

瓷 (cí) and 资 (zī) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 瓦 vs 贝 (same 次 component).

How many strokes does 瓷 have?

瓷 is written with 10 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 瓷?

The radical associated with 瓷 is 瓦 (tile). This radical appears in many characters related to tile.

What are the components of 瓷?

瓷 is composed of: 次 (phonetic), 瓦 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱次瓦 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 瓷?

Common words with 瓷 include: 瓷砖 (cí zhuān, "ceramic tile"); 瓷器 (cí qì, "chinaware"); 陶瓷 (táo cí, "pottery and porcelain"); 搪瓷 (táng cí, "enamel"); 瓷碗 (cí wǎn, "porcelain bowl"). There are over 20 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 瓷 (cí)?

Several characters share the pronunciation cí: 茨 (Caltrop or puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris)), 此 (this), 次 (next in sequence), 词 (word), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 瓷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 瓷 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 瓷 with real-time feedback

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