大 dà, dài — big, large; (of age) old; greatly, very; (dài) only in 大夫 dàifu, a doctor
dà (fourth tone, falling) dài (fourth tone, falling)
2 readings — the first is the most common.
big, large; (of age) old; greatly, very; (dài) only in 大夫 dàifu, a doctor
3 strokesRadical 大Frequency #13
Pinyin
- dà (fourth tone, falling)most common
- dài (fourth tone, falling)
big, large; (of age) old; greatly, very; (dài) only in 大夫 dàifu, a doctor
Character breakdown
Mnemonic
To write "big" the script drew a person standing square with the arms flung wide — the largest thing it could point at. Lay a line above those outstretched arms and you have the sky, 天; drop a dot underneath and you have 太, "excessively". Size and age share the word: 你多大? asks literally how big you are, and means how old.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.