■ radical

sì

court

How it’s built

Phonosemantic compound. 寸 represents the meaning and 止 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning of "to grasp". The current meaning "temple" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning is now represented by the character 持 (to hold).

寸

meaning

inch; thumb; (hand)

止

sound

(foot); stop — The pronunciation of 寺 was similar to 止 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.

Through the ages

Bronze script

Seal script

Appears in

Characters that use 寺 as a component, most common first.

等děngrank 特tèspecial 持chíto hold 待dàito entertain 诗shīpoetry 侍shìto serve 峙zhìto pile 恃shìto trust 痔zhìpiles 詩shīpoetry 時shítime