帝

Meanings

Etymology

Pictogram (象形): Depicts a flower calyx — the structure joining blossom to stem; original form of 蒂 (OC *tˤes, “calyx; peduncle”). The calyx is at once the apex of the stalk and the base supporting the flower, an image that naturally motivated extension to "supreme arbiter; God." Corroborated by a phonosemantic cluster around *tˤe(C): 諦 (OC *tˤeh, “to ascertain”), 堤 (OC *tˤe, “base; embankment”), 締 (OC *dˤeh, “to bind fast”), 題 (OC *dˤe, “apex; forehead”), 地 (OC *lˤeh, “ground”) (地，底也…亦言諦也) — all converging on "foundational support" and "firm establishment." Alternative proposals: a bundle of sacrificial firewood or an altar (→ 禘 (OC *dˤeh, “great sacrifice”)); a circumpolar asterism centered on the north celestial pole (Pankenier, 2004). Shuowen erroneously analyzes the character as phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *teːɡs): semantic 丄 (“up; above”) + phonetic 朿 (OC *sʰeɡs). From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *teɣ (“God”); compare Tibetan ཐེ (the, “celestial gods of the Bon religion”), Jingpho [script needed] (mə³¹-tai³³, “god of the sky”), Proto-Bodo-Garo *mɯ-Dai⁴ (“spirit; god”) (Coblin, 1986; Schuessler, 2007; Sagart, 2011). Cognate with 禘 (OC *deːɡs, “a kind of sacrifice”) (Schuessler, 2007). Alternatively, Sagart (1999) derives it from a root *tek (“to be master over; to rule over”), whence also 適 (OC *ᵃtek, “to rule; to control”), 嫡 (OC *ᵃtek, “son of principal wife”).

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Stroke order

Components

Components from cjk-decomp · MIT

Example sentences

• 紐約帝國大廈現在完全依靠風力發電。

  New York's Empire State Building is now running entirely on wind power.

Sentences from Tatoeba · CC-BY 2.0 FR

More examples & usage (AI)

Derived terms

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Related words