士 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “a scholar”. It is written from 十 (ten) and 一 (one), one above the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “scholar; soldier”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
十 + 一
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+58EB and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
Place ten (十) above one (一): a scholar stands a step above the rest.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 士兵shì bīngsoldier士 = shì
- 士气shì qìmorale士 = shì
- 巴士bā shìbus士 = shì
- 迪士尼dí shì níDisney士 = shì
- 博士bó shìdoctor (PhD); learned scholar士 = shì
- 士卒shì zúrank-and-file soldiers; the troops士 = shì
- 硕士shuò shìmaster’s degree; holder of a master’s degree士 = shì
- 绅士shēn shìgentleman士 = shì
Go deeper
All readings
scholar; trained person
a scholar; a trained or professional person; a soldier
古代指未婚男子或读书人；也用于称受过训练或具有特定身份的人。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 士兵shì bīngsoldier士 = shì
- 士气shì qìmorale士 = shì
- 巴士bā shìbus士 = shì
- 迪士尼dí shì níDisney士 = shì
- 博士bó shìdoctor (PhD); learned scholar士 = shì
- 士卒shì zúrank-and-file soldiers; the troops士 = shì
- 硕士shuò shìmaster’s degree; holder of a master’s degree士 = shì
- 绅士shēn shìgentleman士 = shì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 士 mean?
士 (shì) means a scholar; a trained or professional person; a soldier.
How do you pronounce 士?
It is pronounced shì.
What parts is 士 made of?
十 (ten) and 一 (one), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+58EB and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 士 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 士?
士. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 士?
Common ones are 士兵 and 士气. The reading of 士 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.