词 (cí): word, statement, speech, lyrics, a form of lyric poetry, flourishing in the Song dynasty 宋朝[Song4 chao2] (CL:首[shou3])
词 (cí) is a Chinese character meaning “word.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 讠 (semantic) and 司 (phonetic). It ranks #959 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 词 words. Its radical form 讠 (speech) appears in many related characters such as 认 (rèn, to recognize, to admit), 记 (jì, to remember, to record), 识 (shí, to know, knowledge).
Definitions
- word
- statement
- speech
- lyrics
- a form of lyric poetry, flourishing in the Song dynasty 宋朝[Song4 chao2] (Classifier: 首[shou3])
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 词 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 词
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 歌词noun | gē cí | song lyric | 5 |
| 词语noun | cí yǔ | word (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases) | 4 |
| 词汇noun | cí huì | variant of 詞彙|词汇[ci2 hui4] | 5 |
| 词典noun | cí diǎn | dictionary | 3 |
| 诗词noun | shī cí | verse | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 台词 | tái cí | an actor's lines |
| 单词 | dān cí | word |
| 供词 | gòng cí | confession |
| 名词 | míng cí | (linguistics) noun |
| 誓词 | shì cí | oath |
| 动词 | dòng cí | verb |
| 悼词 | dào cí | memorial speech |
| 新词 | xīn cí | new expression |
| 托词 | tuō cí | to make an excuse |
| 词句 | cí jù | words and sentences |
| 颂词 | sòng cí | commendation speech |
| 词组 | cí zǔ | phrase (grammar) |
| 微词 | wēi cí | veiled criticism |
| 题词 | tí cí | inscription |
| 代词 | dài cí | pronoun |
词 appears in 100 compound words: 35 as the first character, 65 as the last, and 0 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 词 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (23)
Showing 12 of 23 idioms containing 词.
Example Sentences
这个词的意思我不太清楚，需要查一下词典。
Zhè gè cí de yìsi wǒ bù tài qīngchu, xūyào chá yīxià cídiǎn.
I'm not quite clear about the meaning of this word; I need to look it up in the dictionary.
...被控误导Twitter股东案 进入结案陈词阶段
. . . bèi kòng wù dǎo T w i t t e r gǔ dōng àn jìn rù jié àn chén cí jiē duàn
...The case in which he is accused of misleading Twitter shareholders has entered the closing arguments phase
新华社最新禁用词 不得用两岸三地、中台
xīn huá shè zuì xīn jīn yòng cí bù dé yòng liǎng àn sān dì , zhōng tái
Xinhua News Agency's latest prohibited words are not allowed to be used on both sides of the strait, three places, and the central platform
李洙赫帅到像AI“肉麻台词狂撩Jisoo” 本人反应曝:超满意
lǐ 洙 hè shuài dào xiàng ròu má tái cí kuáng 撩 běn rén fǎn yīng pù chāo mǎn yì
Lee so-hyuk is so handsome that he is like an AI "fleshy line flirtatious Jisoo" and his reaction revealed: super satisfied
即将灯节同台...谷立言称最爱中文词“纸上谈兵”蒋万安这样回
jí jiāng dēng jié tóng tái . . . gǔ lì yán chèn zuì ài zhōng wén cí zhǐ shàng tán bīng 蒋 wàn ān zhè yàng huí
Coming to the same stage for the Lantern Festival... Gu Liyan said that he likes the Chinese word "on paper" Jiang Wan'an replied like this
强词有理:中国最淡定
qiáng cí yǒu lǐ zhōng guó zuì dàn dìng
Strong Words, Sound Reasoning: China's Most Unflappable
有人能发这个词的音吗？
Yǒurén néng fā zhège cí de yīn ma?
Can anyone pronounce this word?
这个词是什么意思？
Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?
What does this word mean?
你们怎么读这个词？
Nǐmen zěnme dú zhège cí?
How do you say this word?
那个词用意大利语怎么说？
Nàge cí yòng Yìdàlìyǔ zěnme shuō?
How do you say that in Italian?
Character Family
讠 Radical Family — Characters sharing the speech radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 词 (cí) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 词 and 饲?
How many strokes does 词 have?
What is the radical of 词?
What are the components of 词?
What are common words containing 词?
What characters sound the same as 词 (cí)?
Is 词 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 词 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.