才

See also: 扌, オ, and 孑

才 U+624D, 才 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-624D ← 扌 [U+624C] CJK Unified Ideographs 扎 → [U+624E]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

才 (Kangxi radical 64, 手+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 木竹 (DH), four-corner 4020₀, composition ⿹𬺰丿(GHTV) or ⿻𬺰丿(JK))

Derived characters

• 𠆫 犲 材 䊷(䌶) 𦨑 豺 財(财) 䞗 釮 𩵝 䴭 鼒 閉(闭) 团 𧛌 𦬁

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 416, character 30
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 11769
• Dae Jaweon: page 763, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1824, character 2
• Unihan data for U+624D

---

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 才
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (才) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
茬	*zraː, *zraːʔ, *ʔsrɯ, *zrɯ
材	*zlɯː
才	*zlɯː, *zlɯːs
財	*zlɯː
鼒	*zlɯː, *ʔslɯ
在	*zlɯːʔ, *zlɯːs
豺	*zrɯː

Pictogram (象形) – sprouting of seeds.

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		才

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”).

Derivatives: 材 (OC *zlɯː, “material; timber”), 財 (OC *zlɯː, “riches; property; money”).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 才

1. ability; gift; talent; capability

   alt. forms: 材 (cái)

2. talented person; talent
3. one with a certain status or background
4. (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 材 (cái, “material”).
5. (Southern Min) (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 材 (“classifier for volume (of wood) and area (of paper, glass, stone, curtain, etc.)”).
6. a surname

Etymology 2

trad.		才/纔*
simp.		才

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 才

1. only; just; merely

   教室裡才五個人。 [MSC, trad.]
   教室里才五个人。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jiàoshì lǐ cái wǔ ge rén. [Pinyin]

   There are only five people in the classroom.

   1. Used in the 才……就…… structure; only; just

      才五點鐘他就起床了。 [MSC, trad.]
      才五点钟他就起床了。 [MSC, simp.]

      Cái wǔ diǎnzhōng tā jiù qǐchuáng le. [Pinyin]

      It's only five o'clock, yet he has already got up.

2. only a short while ago; just

   我才來，錯過什麼了嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   我才来，错过什么了吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ cái lái, cuòguò shénme le ma? [Pinyin]

   I just arrived. What did I miss?

   Template:zh-syn

3. only after; only then; not ... until

   她鎖上所有的窗戶才去睡覺。 [MSC, trad.]
   她锁上所有的窗户才去睡觉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā suǒ shàng suǒyǒu de chuānghù cái qù shuìjiào. [Pinyin]

   She went to sleep only after locking all the windows.

   你怎麼現在才到。我等了一個多小時了。 [MSC, trad.]
   你怎么现在才到。我等了一个多小时了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ zěnme xiànzài cái dào. Wǒ děng le yī ge duō xiǎoshí le. [Pinyin]

   Why didn't you come until now? I've been waiting for more than an hour.

4. Used to emphasize that something is/is not.

   我才是張三。／我才是张三。  ―  Wǒ cái shì Zhāng Sān.  ―  I'm Zhang San (not that some else is Zhang San).

   我才沒有騙人。／我才没有骗人。  ―  Wǒ cái méiyǒu piànrén.  ―  I'm not lying.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 才 (“only after; only then; not ... until”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		才2, 再, 方, 始, 方才
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	才2
	Singapore	才2
Cantonese	Guangzhou	先, 至, 先至
	Hong Kong	先, 至, 先至
Hakka	Meixian	正
Southern Min	Xiamen	才3
	Quanzhou	才3
	Zhangzhou	才3
	Singapore (Hokkien)	才3
	Manila (Hokkien)	才3
	Shantou	正
	Singapore (Teochew)	正
Wu	Shanghai	再, 才2
	Suzhou	再
Xiang	Changsha	才至

Etymology 3

simp. and trad.		才
alternative forms		乍 Min Dong 則／则 即 者 隻／只

Possibly from 正 (“just”) (Taiwan MoE).

Pronunciation

• Eastern Min (BUC): ciáh
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chiah

---

• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ciáh
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siɑʔ²⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiah
    • Tâi-lô: tsiah
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ciaq
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡siaʔ³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡siaʔ⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡siaʔ³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡siaʔ³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siaʔ³²/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 才 (Min)

1. only; merely
2. just; just now; a moment ago

   才看𡅏電影。 [Eastern Min, trad.]
   才看𡅏电影。 [Eastern Min, simp.]

   Ciáh káng lā̤ diêng-īng. / [t͡siɑʔ²⁴ kʰɑŋ²¹³ l̃ɛ³³ tieŋ²⁴²⁻⁵³ ^(Ø-)ŋiŋ³³] [Bàng-uâ-cê / IPA]

   [I] just watched a movie.

3. only then; only after
4. Used to emphasize that something is/is not.

Synonyms

• (just now):

(deprecated template usage)

edit

• 今仔 (Hokkien)
• 剛剛 / 刚刚 (gānggāng)
• 剛才 / 刚才 (gāngcái)
• 方才 (fāngcái)
• 暫 / 暂 (zàn) (literary)
• 站仔 (Hokkien)
• 適才 / 适才 (shìcái)

• (only then):

Dialectal synonyms of 才 (“only after; only then; not ... until”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		才2, 再, 方, 始, 方才
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	才2
	Singapore	才2
Cantonese	Guangzhou	先, 至, 先至
	Hong Kong	先, 至, 先至
Hakka	Meixian	正
Southern Min	Xiamen	才3
	Quanzhou	才3
	Zhangzhou	才3
	Singapore (Hokkien)	才3
	Manila (Hokkien)	才3
	Shantou	正
	Singapore (Teochew)	正
Wu	Shanghai	再, 才2
	Suzhou	再
Xiang	Changsha	才至

Further reading

• “Entry #215”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Etymology 4

Related to Shanghainese 儕／侪.

Adverb

才

1. (Suzhounese) all

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 都 (“all; both”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		皆, 均, 俱
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		都, 全, 皆, 均, 俱
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	都, 全
	Taiwan	都
	Malaysia	都
	Singapore	都
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	都, 全
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	都
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	都, 下
	Wuhan	都, 下
	Guilin	都
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	都, 全
	Hefei	都
Cantonese	Guangzhou	都
	Hong Kong	都
	Yangjiang	都
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	都
	Singapore (Guangfu)	都
Gan	Nanchang	都
Hakka	Meixian	都
	Wuhua (Meilin)	都
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	都
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	都
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	都
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	都
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	都
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	攏
Jin	Taiyuan	都, 全
Northern Min	Jian'ou	都
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	都
Southern Min	Xiamen	攏, 計, 計計
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	攏
	Quanzhou	攏, 計, 計計
	Zhangzhou	攏, 計, 計計
	Zhao'an	攏
	Dongshan	攏
	Tainan	攏
	Penang (Hokkien)	到了
	Singapore (Hokkien)	攏, 攏總, 計
	Manila (Hokkien)	攏, 攏總
	Chaozhou	攏
	Shantou	攏
	Jieyang	攏
	Singapore (Teochew)	攏
	Wenchang	都
	Qionghai	攏
	Singapore (Hainanese)	攏
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	都
Wu	Shanghai	儕, 禿 obsolete
	Shanghai (Songjiang)	儕
	Shanghai (Chongming)	儕, 孩
	Suzhou	儕
	Wuxi	儕
	Nantong (Haimen)	儕, 孩, 純, 恆, 禿
	Tongxiang	儕
	Ningbo	和
	Wenzhou	沃
	Lishui	都
	Qingyuan	都
Xiang	Changsha	下, 都
	Shuangfeng	下

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of 才 – see 哉 (“begin, commence; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 哉).

Etymology 6

For pronunciation and definitions of 才 – see 在 (“to exist; to be alive; to be at; to be in; to be located; etc.”). (This character is an ancient form of 在).

(deprecated template usage)

---

Japanese

Traditional	歲
Shinjitai	歳
Simplified	岁

Kanji

才

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. age
2. years old

Readings

• Go-on: ざい (zai)
• Kan-on: さい (sai, Jōyō)
• Kun: わずかに (wazukani)、ざえ (zae, 才)、かど (kado, 才)

Compounds

• 才(さい)覚(かく) (saikaku)
• 才(さい)気(き) (saiki)
• 才(さい)能(のう) (sainō)
• 漫(まん)才(ざい) (manzai): a style of double act stand-up comedy
• 天才(てんさい) (tensai): genius

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
才
さい Grade: 2
kan'on

Noun

才(さい) • (sai) 

1. ability, talent, aptitude
2. alternative form of the volumetric unit 抄(しょう) (shō)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
才
さい Grade: 2
kan'on

For pronunciation and definitions of 才 – see the following entry.

【歳さい】S [suffix] [from early 800s] -year-old Alternative spelling サイ

(This term, 才, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

---

Korean

Hanja

才 (eumhun 재주 재 (jaeju jae))

1. hanja form^? of 재 (“talent”)

---

Vietnamese

Han character

才: Hán Nôm readings: tài

1. ability; talent