胎 (tāi): fetus, classifier for litters (of puppies etc), padding (in clothing or bedding)
胎 (tāi) is a Chinese character meaning “fetus.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺼ (semantic) and 台 (phonetic). It ranks #1957 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 胎 flesh. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).
Definitions
- fetus
- classifier for litters (of puppies etc)
- padding (in clothing or bedding)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 胎 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 轮胎noun | lún tāi | tire |
| 双胞胎noun | shuāng bāo tāi | twin |
| 怪胎noun | guài tāi | freak |
| 胎儿noun | tāi ér | unborn child |
| 堕胎verb | duò tāi | to induce an abortion |
| 胎记noun | tāi jì | birthmark |
| 车胎noun | chē tāi | tire |
| 胚胎noun | pēi tāi | embryo |
| 脱胎换骨phrase | tuō tāi huàn gǔ | to shed one's mortal body and exchange one's bones (idiom) |
| 胎盘noun | tāi pán | placenta |
| 投胎verb | tóu tāi | to be reincarnated |
| 娘胎noun | niáng tāi | womb |
| 怀胎verb | huái tāi | to become pregnant |
| 鬼胎noun | guǐ tāi | sinister design |
| 打胎verb | dǎ tāi | to have an abortion |
胎 appears in 65 compound words: 22 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 25 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 胎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
fetus dies in the belly; stillbirth; stillborn; plans or projects failed or were cancelled before being tried
fetus dies in the belly; stillbirth; stillborn; plans or projects failed or were cancelled before being tried
Example Sentences
胎字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
tāi zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The character for "胎" has a very distinctive way of being written, which left a deep impression on me.
孕期喝了酒对宝宝有没有影响?酒精会通过胎盘进入胎儿血液吗
yùn qī hē le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? jiǔ jīng huì tōng guò tāi pán jìn rù tāi ér xiě yè ma
Does drinking alcohol during pregnancy affect the baby? Does alcohol pass through the placenta into fetal bloodstream?
孕期喝了酒对宝宝有没有影响?戒酒后胎儿还能恢复正常吗
yùn qī hē le jiǔ duì bǎo bǎo yǒu méi yǒu yǐng xiǎng ? jiè jiǔ hòu tāi ér hái néng huī fù zhèng cháng ma
Does drinking alcohol during pregnancy affect the baby? Can the fetus return to normal after quitting drinking?
...万人围观 6岁潮男Chok样曝光获赞“母胎帅哥”
. . . wàn rén wéi guàn 6 suì cháo nán C h o k yàng pù guāng huò zàn mǔ tāi shuài gē
... Tens of thousands of people watched the 6-year-old trendy boy Chok was exposed and praised as a "handsome guy in the mother and fetus"
水牢性侵强迫堕胎样样来 联合国痛批东南亚诈骗园区惨绝人寰
shuǐ láo xìng qīn qiáng pò duò tāi yàng yàng lái lián gě guó tòng pī dōng nán yà zhà piàn yuán qū cǎn jué rén 寰
The United Nations criticized the Southeast Asian fraud park as horrific
不只换轮胎那么简单:比亚迪详解澳洲车型本地化调校细...
bù zhī huàn lún tāi nà má jiǎn dān : bǐ yà dí xiáng jiě ào zhōu chē xíng běn dì huà diào jiào xì . . .
It's not as simple as changing tires: BYD explains the localization of Australian models in detail...
车胎被钉子刺穿了。
Chētāi bèi dīngzi cìchuān le.
A nail penetrated the car tyre.
胎盘的角色是滋养胎儿。
Tāipán de juésè shì zīyǎng tāi'ér.
The role of the placenta is to nourish the foetus.
你支持还是反对堕胎？
Nǐ zhīchí háishi fǎnduì duòtāi?
Are you for or against abortion?
他当然不可能回到娘胎里再出生一次了！
Tā dāngrán bù kěnéng huídào niángtāi lǐ zài chūshēng yīcì le!
Surely he can not enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺼ (flesh) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 胎 (tāi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 胎 and 始?
How many strokes does 胎 have?
What is the radical of 胎?
What are the components of 胎?
What are common words containing 胎?
What characters sound the same as 胎 (tāi)?
Is 胎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 胎 with real-time feedback
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