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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

弟

dì
younger brother
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 弓
  • 7 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • derived
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Origin

Pictogram (象形) of a spear handle wrapped in a leather strap. The wrapping signified order or sequence, which extended to "younger brother".

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese丷 “Component variant of 八.”
  • partChinese弔 “to reach; to arrive”
  • partChinese丿 “left-falling stroke, usually read as 撇”

Words built on it: 第, 兄弟, 弟弟

Meanings

character
  1. younger brother
  2. junior male
  3. I; me (between male friends)
  4. original form of 第 (dì, “sequence”)

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

弟：韋束之次弟也。从古字之象。凡弟之屬皆从弟。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 同「悌」。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 弟 was written 字形演變

  1. 弟 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 弟 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 弟 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 弟 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 弟 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 弟 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 弟