塔 (tǎ): pagoda (abbr. for 塔婆, a loanword from Sanskrit stūpa), tower, pylon, (loanword) (pastry) tart
塔 (tǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “pagoda (abbr. for 塔婆, a loanword from sanskrit stūpa).” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (semantic) and 荅 (phonetic). It ranks #1029 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 塔 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).
Definitions
- pagoda (abbr. for 塔婆, a loanword from Sanskrit stūpa)
- tower
- pylon
- (loanword) (pastry) tart
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 塔 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 灯塔noun | dēng tǎ | lighthouse |
| 金字塔noun | jīn zì tǎ | pyramid (building or structure) |
| 肯塔基proper-noun | kěn tǎ jī | Kentucky, US state |
| 塔利班 | tǎ lì bān | the Taliban, Islamist organization that emerged in the mid-1990s in Afghanistan |
| 塔楼noun | tǎ lóu | tower (of building) |
| 塔台noun | tǎ tái | control tower |
| 铁塔noun | tiě tǎ | iron tower |
| 炮塔noun | pào tǎ | gun turret |
| 娜塔莉 | nà tǎ lì | Natalie (name) |
| 水塔noun | shuǐ tǎ | water tower |
| 象牙塔noun | xiàng yá tǎ | ivory tower |
| 塔塔尔 | tǎ tǎ ěr | Tatar ethnic group |
| 艾塔 | ài tǎ | eta (Greek letter Η, η) |
| 尖塔noun | jiān tǎ | spire |
| 卡塔尔proper-noun | kǎ tǎ ěr | Qatar |
塔 appears in 100 compound words: 27 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 17 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 塔 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
by gathering small amounts one gets a huge quantity, many a mickle makes a muckle
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 塔.
Example Sentences
塔地改革让农民有了自己的田地。
tǎ dì gǎi gé ràng nóng mín yǒu le zì jǐ de tián dì .
Land reform gave farmers their own plots of land.
内塔尼亚胡宣布组建针对穆斯林的新联盟
nèi tǎ ní yà hú xuān bù zǔ jiàn zhēn duì mù sī lín de xīn lián méng
Netanyahu announced the formation of a new coalition against Muslims
被困晴空塔升降机长达5个半小时 约20人全部获救
bèi kùn qíng kōng tǎ shēng jiàng jī cháng dá 5 gè bàn xiǎo shí yuē 2 0 rén quán bù huò jiù
Trapped in the Skytree lift for five and a half hours, about 20 people were rescued
东京晴空塔爆电梯急坠事故 约20人受困5.5小时 ...
dōng jīng qíng kōng tǎ bào diàn tī jí zhuì shì gù yuē 2 0 rén shòu kùn 5 . 5 xiǎo shí . . .
Tokyo Skytree exploded elevator crash about 20 people trapped for 5.5 hours ...
你会弹都塔尔二弦琴吗？
Nǐ huì tán dūtǎ'ěr èrxiánqín ma?
Can you play the dutar?
你参观伦敦塔了吗？
Nǐ cānguān Lúndūn tǎ le ma?
Did you visit the Tower of London?
塔林离这里很远吗？
Tǎlín lí zhèlǐ hěn yuǎn ma?
Is it a long way to Tallinn?
什么是格式塔疗法？
Shénme shì Géshìtǎ liáofǎ?
What is Gestalt Therapy?
从这塔上可以看到城市的全貌。
Cóng zhè tǎ shàng kěyǐ kàn dào chéngshì de quánmào.
This tower commands a full view of the city.
塔夫斯是世界上最危险的一所大学。
Tǎ fū sī shì shìjiè shàng zuì wēixiǎn de yī suǒ dàxué.
Tufts is the most dangerous university in the world.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 土 (earth) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 塔 (tǎ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 塔 and 搭?
How many strokes does 塔 have?
What is the radical of 塔?
What are the components of 塔?
What are common words containing 塔?
What characters sound the same as 塔 (tǎ)?
Is 塔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 塔 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.