Spirit Radical (礻) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
礻 is the spirit radical. It appears in 17 of the most common Chinese characters — these 12 are the ones worth learning first, and the worksheet below gives every one of them a pinyin header, a stroke-by-stroke model and blank Tianzige grids to copy into.
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What does 礻 mean?
Spirit radical · 示 shì · 5 strokes · an altar; spirits; worship
As a radical it is called 示字旁 (shì zì páng).
It usually appears on the left (礻), or at the bottom (示). The Origin column below shows what each character's parts do — many take their meaning from the radical, some take their sound from the other half.
示 itself: An altar
12 common characters with 礻
Ranked by how often they appear in real written Chinese. Every character links to its own page with a stroke-order animation and example words.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 社 | shè | society, club; agency | An earth 土 spirit 礻; 礻 also provides the pronunciation |
| 神 | shén | god | 申 supplies the sound |
| 视 | shì | look; regard (… as) | 礻 supplies the sound |
| 际 | jì | border; edge; boundary; interval; between; inter-; to meet; time; occa… | 示 supplies the sound |
| 标 | biāo | mark; sign; label; to mark with a symbol, label, lettering etc; to bea… | 票 supplies the sound |
| 票 | piào | ticket | Flames 覀 over an altar 示, referring to a Chinese tradition of burning fake money as an offering |
| 礼 | lǐ | gift; courtesy; ceremony | 乚 supplies the sound |
| 款 | kuǎn | money, fund; pattern, style | meaning from 欠 (owe) |
| 福 | fú | good fortune, happiness, blessing | 畐 supplies the sound |
| 祖 | zǔ | ancestor; forefather; grandparents | 且 supplies the sound |
| 禁 | jìn | prohibit, ban; endure | 林 supplies the sound |
| 宗 | zōng | school; sect; purpose; model; ancestor; clan; to take as one's model (… | An altar 示 to the ancestor spirits found in one's home 宀 |
Related Radicals
- 皿Dish radical · mǐn12 common characters · dish, vessel
- 目Eye radical · mù20 common characters · eye
- 石Stone radical · shí19 common characters · stone
- 禾Grain radical · hé27 common characters · grain; a rice plant
- 穴Cave radical · xué9 common characters · a cave; a hole
- 立Stand radical · lì14 common characters · to stand
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