紫 (zǐ): purple, violet
紫 (zǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “purple.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 此 (phonetic) and 糸 (semantic). It ranks #1635 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 紫 silk. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lèi, tired), 绍 (shào, to continue).
Definitions
- purple
- violet
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 紫 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 紫色noun | zǐ sè | purple |
| 紫外线noun | zǐ wài xiàn | ultraviolet ray |
| 紫藤noun | zǐ téng | wisteria |
| 紫罗兰noun | zǐ luó lán | (botany) common stock |
| 紫红色noun | zǐ hóng sè | red-purple |
| 大红大紫phrase | dà hóng dà zǐ | to hit the big time |
| 紫外adjective | zǐ wài | ultraviolet (ray) |
| 紫丁香noun | zǐ dīng xiāng | lilac |
| 紫外光noun | zǐ wài guāng | ultraviolet light |
| 紫菜noun | zǐ cài | edible seaweed of genus Porphyra or genus Pyropia, esp. one used to make dried sheets of nori |
| 紫禁城proper-noun | zǐ jìn chéng | the Forbidden City |
| 紫水晶noun | zǐ shuǐ jīng | amethyst |
| 紫晶 | zǐ jīng | amethyst (purple crystalline silicon dioxide) |
| 紫苏noun | zǐ sū | beefsteak plant |
| 酱紫adjective | jiàng zǐ | dark reddish purple |
紫 appears in 97 compound words: 77 as the first character, 8 as the last, and 14 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 紫 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
Describes a scene where flowers bloom synchronously.; a profusion of flourishing trades; prosperous
viola (Viola philippica) (a herb used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat snake bite.)
ziwei doushu; "purple star astrology" (a form of Chinese astrology and fortune-telling)
Describes a scene where flowers bloom synchronously.; a profusion of flourishing trades; prosperous
ziwei doushu; "purple star astrology" (a form of Chinese astrology and fortune-telling)
Example Sentences
紫字在日常生活中使用频率中等。
zǐ zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ zhōng děng .
The character "紫" is used moderately frequently in daily life.
美以携手狙杀哈米尼!苏紫云:让美国可以把主战场完全拉回印太
měi yǐ xié shǒu 狙 shā hā mǐ ní ! sū zǐ yún : ràng měi guó kě yǐ bǎ zhǔ zhàn chǎng wán quán lā huí yìn tài
The United States and Israel join hands to kill Hamini! Su Ziyun: So that the United States can completely pull the main battlefield back to the Indo-Pacific
HMD 推出 4G 新机 Luma:紫光展锐 T615 处理器、3.5mm 耳...
H M D tuī chū 4 G xīn jī L u m a : zǐ guāng zhǎn ruì T 6 1 5 chǔ lǐ qì , 3 . 5 m m ěr . . .
HMD launches new 4G Luma: UNISOC T615 processor, 3.5mm ear...
花展3.20开锣为期10日 主题花紫罗兰为维园添色彩
huā zhǎn 3 . 2 0 kāi 锣 wéi qī 1 0 rì zhǔ tí huā zǐ luó lán wéi wéi yuán tiān sè cǎi
The flower show will start on 3.20 for 10 days, and the theme flower violets will add color to Victoria Park
宫腔紫状回声要警惕了?是否为“杂乱回声”的误写...
gōng qiāng zǐ zhuàng huí shēng yāo jǐng tì le ? shì fǒu wéi zá luàn huí shēng de wù xiě . . .
Should we be vigilant about the purple echo of the uterine cavity? Is it a misspelling of "Messy Echo"...
震撼!挖3563克拉紫星彩宝 飙126亿台币
zhèn hàn ! wā 3 5 6 3 kè lā zǐ xīng cǎi bǎo biāo 1 2 6 yì tái bì
Shocking! Digging 3,563 carats of purple star colored treasures soared to NT$12.6 billion
紫外线可导致皮肤癌。
Zǐwàixiàn kě dǎozhì pífū'ái.
Ultraviolet rays can cause skin cancer.
这名士兵被授予紫心勋章。
Zhè míngshì bīng bèi shòuyǔ zǐ xīn xūn zhāng.
This soldier was awarded the Purple Heart.
明代十五世纪初紫禁城是北京的中心。
Míngdài shíwǔ shìjì chū Zǐjìnchéng shì Běijīng de zhōngxīn.
In the Ming Dynasty (early 15th century) the centre of Beijing was the Forbidden City.
我的男朋友想把头发染紫。
Wǒ de nánpéngyou xiǎng bǎtóu fā rǎn zǐ.
My boyfriend wants to dye his hair purple.
Character Family
纟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the silk radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 紫 (zǐ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 紫 and 些?
How many strokes does 紫 have?
What is the radical of 紫?
What are the components of 紫?
What are common words containing 紫?
What characters sound the same as 紫 (zǐ)?
Is 紫 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 紫 with real-time feedback
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