■ radical

dé

ethics

How it’s built

Depicts walking (彳) through life with a straight (直) heart (心) to represent the meaning "virtue". 直 also serves as a phonetic component.

彳

meaning

walk; travel — 彳 is a component form of 行.

直

meaning

straight — 直 also serves as a phonetic component. The pronunciation of 德 was similar to 直 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.

心

meaning

heart

Through the ages

Bronze script

Seal script

Appears in

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

聽tīngto hear

Browse all characters →