词典
dictionary
HSK level
- Pinyin
- cídiǎn
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 15
- Register
- neutral
- Measure word
- 本 / 部
Stroke order for 词典
词典 is written with 15 strokes (词: 7, 典: 8). The animation replays automatically.
What does 词典 mean?
词典 (cídiǎn) is the Chinese word for 'dictionary' — a reference book or app that defines words.
Literally, 词 means 'word' and 典 means 'canon / standard reference,' so 词典 is the 'standard reference for words.' It can be a physical book or a digital app like Pleco or Youdao. Two notes for English speakers: first, modern Chinese distinguishes 词典 (cídiǎn, defines 词 — multi-character words and phrases) from 字典 (zìdiǎn, defines 字 — individual characters).
现代汉语词典 (the Modern Chinese Dictionary) is a 词典 because it covers compound words; 新华字典 (Xinhua Dictionary) is a 字典 because it covers single characters. For most learners, 词典 is what you actually need. Second, the measure word for a dictionary is 本 (běn) — the same as for any book.
Character by character
Memory hook: 词 (word) + 典 (standard reference) = the standard reference for words — a dictionary.
Example sentences
请你帮我查一下这个词，我没带词典。
Qǐng nǐ bāng wǒ chá yíxià zhège cí, wǒ méi dài cídiǎn.
Please help me look up this word; I didn't bring a dictionary.
spoken
这本汉英词典对我很有用。
Zhè běn Hàn-Yīng cídiǎn duì wǒ hěn yǒuyòng.
This Chinese-English dictionary is very useful for me.
neutral
现在大家都用手机里的电子词典。
Xiànzài dàjiā dōu yòng shǒujī lǐ de diànzǐ cídiǎn.
Nowadays everyone uses the electronic dictionary on their phone.
neutral
学中文的时候，词典很重要。
Xué Zhōngwén de shíhou, cídiǎn hěn zhòngyào.
When learning Chinese, a dictionary is very important.
neutral
Common phrases with 词典
Synonyms
字典 defines individual characters (字) — one character per entry. 词典 defines words and phrases (词) — often multi-character. For looking up '电脑' you need a 词典; for looking up just '脑' as a character you can use a 字典.
Don't confuse 词典 with
Same root 典 but different first character: 字 means character, 词 means word. Use 字典 for single-character lookup, 词典 for word/phrase lookup. Most learners use 词典 daily.
FAQ
Acquire it by listening
Meet 词典 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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