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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

才

cái
ability; gift; talent; capability
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 4
  • TOCFL 3
  • radical 手
  • 3 strokes
  • 則
  • 隻
  • 则

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Etymology 1

Pictogram (象形) — a sharp peg. Same as 弋 and 尗. The sense "talent" is via an early phonetic loan. See also the top component of 𢦏.

Xu Shen erroneously analyzed this character as a sprout growing from the ground.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa ~ za (“child, offspring, relatives; to come forth (as child at birth); to love; loving”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007). "Birth" and "natural characteristic / endowments" are semantically connected, compare 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs, “live, give birth”) and its derivative 性 (OC *sleŋs, “nature; character; personality; quality”) & 姓 (OC *sleŋs, “family name”). Cognate with 子 (OC *ʔslɯʔ, “son”).

Derivatives: 材 (OC *zlɯː, “material; timber”), 財 (OC *zlɯː, “riches; property; money”), and 存 (OC *zluːn, “to exist”).

Etymology 3

Possibly from 正 (“just”) (cf. Taiwan MoE). The Zhangzhou dialect has the variant chiàⁿ, which is homophonous with the colloquial reading of 正 (Ogawa, 1931-1932).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese一 “one”
  • partChinese亅 “a backward hook”
  • partChinese丿 “left-falling stroke, usually read as 撇”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*tsa ~ za “child; to give birth; to take care; to be kind”

Words built on it: 在, 才能, 人才, 存, 天才

Meanings

character
  1. ability; gift; talent; capability
  2. talented person; talent
  3. one with a certain status or background
  4. a surname

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

才：艸木之初也。从丨上貫一，將生枝葉。一，地也。凡才之屬皆从才。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 能力。 例：才能、多才多藝、口才
  2. 有才能、智慧的人。 例：天才、幹才、英才
  3. 譏稱某類的人。 例：蠢才、奴才
  4. 方、始。 例：我才知道是你幫了我的忙的。
  5. 僅。 例：他才五歲，就會幫忙做家事了。
  6. 表示強調的語氣。 例：他哪有我累？我才累呢！

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

How 才 was written 字形演變

  1. 才 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 才 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 才 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 才 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 才 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: 才