滋 (zī): to grow, to nourish, to increase

滋 (zī) is a Chinese character meaning “to grow.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 兹 (phonetic). It ranks #1907 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 滋 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to grow
  2. to nourish
  3. to increase

Etymology & Origin

滋

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵兹 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing 滋 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
滋味nounzī wèitaste
艾滋病nounài zī bìng(loanword) AIDS
艾滋nounài zī(loanword) AIDS
滋润adjectivezī rùnmoist
爱滋病nounài zī bìngvariant of 艾滋病
爱滋nounài zīAIDS (loanword)
艾滋病毒nounài zī bìng dúhuman immune deficiency virus (HIV)
滋生verbzī shēngto breed
滋养verbzī yǎngto nourish
滋事verbzī shìto cause trouble
滋长verbzī zhǎngto grow (usually of abstract things)
有滋有味yǒu zī yǒu wèiflavorsome
滋补verbzī bǔnourishing
滋补品nounzī bǔ pǐntonic
美滋滋adjectiveměi zī zīvery happy
35
Total compounds
40
As first character
20
As last character
40
As middle character

滋 appears in 35 compound words: 40 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 40 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 滋 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

沿yán
0.72426 co-occurrences
衅xìn
0.597572 co-occurrences
田tián
0.59627 co-occurrences
岸àn
0.58726 co-occurrences
省shěng
0.57126 co-occurrences
农nóng
0.56126 co-occurrences
味wèi
0.5493,384 co-occurrences
份fèn
0.49926 co-occurrences
病bìng
0.4908,255 co-occurrences
艾ài
0.4864,219 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

艾滋病毒àizī bìngdúHSK 7+

HIV (virus)

noun
不是滋味bùshì zīwèiHSK 7+

upset; disgusted

adjective

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

站在桥上望去,滋水缓缓向东流去。

zhàn zài qiáo shǎng wàng qù , zī shuǐ huǎn huǎn xiàng dōng liú qù .

Standing on the bridge, one can see the Zishui River flowing gently eastward.

TechnewsApr 2026

爱滋病毒如何伤害大脑?微胶细胞恐是关键

ài zī bìng dú rú hé shāng hài dà nǎo ? wēi jiāo xì bāo kǒng shì guān jiàn

How Does HIV Damage the Brain? Microglia May Hold the Key

The Beijing NewsApr 2026

...26高端燕窝礼盒推荐:5大维度下10款高滋补燕窝品牌推荐

. . . 2 6 gāo duān yān wō lǐ hé tuī jiàn : 5 dà wéi dù xià 1 0 kuǎn gāo zī bǔ yān wō pǐn pái tuī jiàn

...26 Recommended Premium Bird's Nest Gift Sets: 10 Top-Quality, Nourishing Bird's Nest Brands Selected Across 5 Key Criteria

SmzdmMar 2026

求鉴别雅诗兰黛智妍滋润面霜真假

qiú jiàn bié yǎ shī lán 黛 zhì 妍 zī rùn miàn shuāng zhēn jiǎ

Please help me verify the authenticity of this Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Moisturizing Cream

中時新聞網Mar 2026

新身分曝光!朱培滋出外景“忘擦防晒”下田

xīn shēn fēn pù guāng ! zhū péi zī chū wài jǐng wàng cā fáng shài xià tián

New Identity Revealed! Zhu Peizi Forgets to Apply Sunscreen During Outdoor Shoot and Ends Up in the Field

中国军网Feb 2026

是什么,让老班长心里不是滋味?

shì shén má , ràng lǎo bān cháng xīn lǐ bù shì zī wèi ?

What makes the old squad leader feel uncomfortable?

Tatoeba

她在钢琴上弹了一首华尔滋舞曲。

Tā zài gāngqín shàng tán le yī shǒu huā ěr zī wǔqǔ.

She played a waltz on the piano.

Tatoeba

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.

Tatoeba

你尝过真正饥饿的滋味吗?

Nǐ cháng guo zhēnzhèng jī'è de zīwèi ma?

Do you know what it is like to be really hungry?

Tatoeba

你知道悲伤的滋味么?

Nǐ zhīdào bēishāng de zīwèi me?

Do you know what sadness feels like?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 滋 (zī) mean in Chinese?
滋 (zī) primarily means "to grow." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1907 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 滋 and 减?
滋 (zī) and 减 (jiǎn) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 滋 (increase) vs 减 (decrease).
How many strokes does 滋 have?
滋 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 滋?
The radical associated with 滋 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 滋?
滋 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 兹 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵兹 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 滋?
Common words with 滋 include: 滋味 (zī wèi, "taste"); 艾滋病 (ài zī bìng, "(loanword) AIDS"); 艾滋 (ài zī, "(loanword) AIDS"); 滋润 (zī rùn, "moist"); 爱滋病 (ài zī bìng, "variant of 艾滋病"). There are over 35 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 滋 (zī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zī: 子 (son), 自 ((bound form) self), 字 (letter), 资 (resources), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 滋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 滋 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 滋 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.