底 (dǐ): bottom, base, background, foundation, (equivalent to 的 as possessive particle)
底 (dǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “bottom.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 广 (semantic) and 氐 (phonetic). It ranks #543 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 底 building. Its radical form 广 (shelter) appears in many related characters such as 床 (chuáng, bed), 店 (diàn, shop), 广 (guǎng, wide, broad).
Definitions
- bottom
- base
- background
- foundation
- (equivalent to 的 as possessive particle)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 底 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 底
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 到底adverb | dào dǐ | finally | 4 |
| 彻底adjective | chè dǐ | thorough | 5 |
| 底下noun | dǐ xia | the location below sth | 4 |
| 心底noun | xīn dǐ | bottom of one's heart | 6 |
| 年底noun | nián dǐ | the end of the year | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卧底verb | wò dǐ | to hide (as an undercover agent) |
| 底线noun | dǐ xiàn | bottom line |
| 海底noun | hǎi dǐ | seabed |
| 底特律proper-noun | dǐ tè lǜ | Detroit, Michigan |
| 垫底verb | diàn dǐ | to put sth on the bottom |
| 底部noun | dǐ bù | bottom |
| 歇斯底里noun | xiē sī dǐ lǐ | hysteria (loanword) |
| 说到底adverb | shuō dào dǐ | in the final analysis |
| 底层noun | dǐ céng | ground floor |
| 底片noun | dǐ piàn | negative |
| 鞋底noun | xié dǐ | sole (of a shoe) |
| 底细noun | dǐ xì | inside information |
| 月底noun | yuè dǐ | end of the month |
| 脚底noun | jiǎo dǐ | soles of the feet |
| 谷底noun | gǔ dǐ | valley floor |
底 appears in 102 compound words: 31 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 9 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 底 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (20)
valuable family property; private business; secrets; personal matters; privacy
to make a futile effort; to complete a winning hand by drawing the final tile before reaching the dead wall
valuable family property; private business; secrets; personal matters; privacy
to make a futile effort; to complete a winning hand by drawing the final tile before reaching the dead wall
Showing 12 of 20 idioms containing 底.
Example Sentences
写好底字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo de zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
Mastering the correct stroke order is essential for writing the base characters well.
男生小便后甩一甩会不会导致尿失禁?盆底肌松弛者需谨慎吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi huì bù huì dǎo zhì niào shī jīn ? pén de jī sōng chí zhě xū jǐn shèn ma
Will a boy's throw after urinating cause urinary incontinence? Should people with loose pelvic floor muscles be cautious?
...财局:去年违规不算太多 强调监管质素要有底线
. . . cái jú : qù nián wéi guī bù suàn tài duō qiáng diào jiān guǎn zhì sù yāo yǒu de xiàn
... Finance Bureau: Last year's violations were not too many, emphasizing that there should be a bottom line for regulatory quality
到底有多正?男大生载到班花夜冲险猝死
dào de yǒu duō zhèng ? nán dà shēng zài dào bān huā yè chōng xiǎn 猝 sǐ
How good is it? The male college student died suddenly at night in class
应对川普 我要守住底气
yīng duì chuān pǔ wǒ yāo shǒu zhù de qì
Dealing with Trump, I have to hold on to my confidence
8岁男骑车游南横 撞护栏抛飞摔溪底亡
8 suì nán qí chē yóu nán héng zhuàng hù lán pāo fēi shuāi xī de wáng
An 8-year-old male rode a bicycle to the south and crashed into a guardrail and fell to the bottom of the stream and died
海滩上你到底愿意去吗？
Hǎitān shàng nǐ dàodǐ yuànyì qù ma?
Are you willing to go to the beach?
这真是彻底的虚伪！
Zhè zhēnshi chèdǐ de xūwěi!
This is pure hypocrisy!
咬紧牙关坚持到底！
Yǎojǐnyáguān jiānchí dàodǐ!
Grit your teeth and bear it!
把这里翻个底朝天！
Bǎ zhèlǐ fān ge dǐcháotiān!
Leave no stone unturned.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 广 (building) component
广 Radical Family — Characters sharing the shelter radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 底 (dǐ) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 底 have?
What is the radical of 底?
What are the components of 底?
What are common words containing 底?
What characters sound the same as 底 (dǐ)?
Is 底 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 底 with real-time feedback
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