第 (dì): (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth"), (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed, (old) residence of a high official
第 (dì) is a Chinese character meaning “(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth").” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (structural) and 弟 (structural). It ranks #114 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 第 bamboo strips ⺮ arrayed in sequence; 弟 provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 等 (děng, to wait for), 答 (dá, to answer).
Definitions
- (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")
- (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed
- (old) residence of a high official
Etymology & Origin
ideographicBamboo strips ⺮ arrayed in sequence; 弟 provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿱⺮弟 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 第 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 第一noun | dì yī | first |
| 第二adjective | dì èr | second |
| 第五adjective | dì wǔ | fifth |
| 印第安adjective | yìn dì ān | (American) Indian |
| 第一夫人noun | dì yī fū rén | First Lady (wife of the head of state) |
| 印第安纳 | yìn dì ān nà | Indiana, US state |
| 第三者noun | dì sān zhě | third party |
| 第三世界proper-noun | dì sān shì jiè | Third World |
| 第一手adjective | dì yī shǒu | first-hand |
| 第一流 | dì yī liú | first-class |
| 天下第一 | tiān xià dì yī | first under heaven |
| 第一线noun | dì yī xiàn | front line |
| 法拉第proper-noun | fǎ lā dì | Faraday (name) |
| 第纳尔noun | dì nà ěr | dinar (currency) (loanword) |
| 诺曼第proper-noun | nuò màn dì | Normandy, France |
第 appears in 100 compound words: 63 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 13 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 第 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (18)
Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing 第.
Example Sentences
第一次独自旅行让我学到了很多，也变得更加独立自信。
Dì yī cì dúzì lǚxíng ràng wǒ xué dào le hěn duō, yě biàn de gèngjiā dúlì zìxìn.
Traveling alone for the first time taught me a lot and made me more independent and confident.
马年新春第一班,武汉95后高铁司机的“飞驰人生”
mǎ nián xīn chūn dì yī bān , wǔ hàn hòu gāo tiě sī jī de fēi chí rén shēng
The first shift in the New Year of the Horse, Wuhan 95 high-speed train driver's "flying life".
中国短道最靓的一个第五名——米兰冬奥会山东选手公俐..
zhōng guó duǎn dào zuì 靓 de yī gě dì wǔ míng mǐ lán dōng ào huì shān dōng xuǎn shǒu gōng 俐 . .
China's short track one of the prettiest fifth - Milan Winter Olympics Shandong's Gong Li...
注意!静安“马上有礼”第五轮即将开抢,春日焕新消费..
zhù yì ! jìng ān mǎ shǎng yǒu lǐ dì wǔ lún jí jiāng kāi qiāng , chūn rì huàn xīn xiāo fèi . .
Attention! Jing'an's "Instant Rewards" Fifth Round is About to Launch—Spring Refresh Consumption...
苏翊鸣第二滑平稳输出,继续加油!
sū 翊 míng dì èr huá píng wěn shū chū , jì xù jiā yóu !
Su Yiming delivered a steady second run—keep it up!
美国和伊��第二轮间接谈判17日在瑞士日内瓦开始举行
měi guó hé yī dì èr lún jiān jiē tán pàn rì zài ruì shì rì nèi wǎ kāi shǐ jǔ háng
The second round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran commenced in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 17th.
第一班火车什么时候出发？
Dìyī bān huǒchē shénmeshíhou chūfā?
What time does the first train leave?
她是第一次来意大利吗？
Tā shì dìyīcì láiyì dà lì ma?
Is this her first time coming to Italy?
你几岁交了第一个女朋友？
Nǐ jǐsuì jiāo le dìyī gè nǚpéngyou?
At what age did you have your first girlfriend?
这是你第一次到日本吗？
Zhè shì nǐ dìyīcì dào Rìběn ma?
Is this your first time in Japan?
Character Family
竹 Radical Family — Characters sharing the bamboo radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 第 (dì) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 第 and 低?
How many strokes does 第 have?
What is the radical of 第?
What are the components of 第?
What are common words containing 第?
What characters sound the same as 第 (dì)?
Is 第 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 第 with real-time feedback
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