隶 Radical 171 — to seize, to catch up with; a subordinate, a servant
dài (fourth tone, falling)
to seize, to catch up with; a subordinate, a servant
Radical 1718 strokes0 characters
Where the shape comes from
A hand reaching out to close around a tail, catching an animal that was trying to get away — the grasp giving the word its core sense of seizing, catching up with. Adding a path beneath it gives 逮, to catch, to arrest, walking down someone until the hand can close on them; and it names subordination itself in 隶属, to be affiliated with, under another’s grasp.
characters filed under 隶
No published character on HSK Guide is filed under this radical yet. Character explorer.