寺

sì
#1,889 most
frequent character
temple
noun

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

寺 now has 土 and 寸, both empty parts. 土 came from an earlier 士 shì, the sound part, and 寸 meant a hand. It first meant to grasp, now written 持. The temple sense was borrowed for its sound.

寺 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
持
sound9 characters
等特持待诗侍峙恃痔

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Example Sentences

这个寺很有历史。
zhègè sì hěnyǒu lìshǐ 。
This temple has a lot of history.
我喜欢去寺里静静思考。
wǒ xǐhuān qù sìlǐ jìngjìng sīkǎo 。
I like to go to the temple to think quietly.
他在寺中学习佛教文化。
tāzài sìzhōng xuéxí fójiào wénhuà 。
He studies Buddhist culture in the temple.

Words with similar meanings

庙miào
shrine
A more general term that often refers to smaller places of worship compared to '寺'.

Homophones

HSK 1
四sì
four, 4
似sì
to seem, to appear, to resemble
饲sì
to raise, to rear, to feed
食sì
to feed (a person or animal)

Words Starting With 寺

寺庙sì miào
temple; monastery; shrine

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