彩

See also: 綵

彩 U+5F69, 彩 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5F69 ← 彨 [U+5F68] CJK Unified Ideographs 彪 → [U+5F6A]

彩 U+FA84, 彩 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA84 ← 廙 [U+FA83] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 徭 → [U+FA85]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

彩 (Kangxi radical 59, 彡+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 月木竹竹竹 (BDHHH), four-corner 2292₂, composition ⿰采彡)

Derived characters

• 𭊑, 𣙓, 𬗹, 𮜎, 𦹮, 𤨽, 𥂑

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 363, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9992
• Dae Jaweon: page 682, character 19
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 855, character 3
• Unihan data for U+5F69

• Unihan data for U+FA84

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 彩
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (采) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
采	*sʰɯːʔ
睬	*sʰɯːʔ
彩	*sʰɯːʔ
採	*sʰɯːʔ
綵	*sʰɯːʔ
寀	*sʰɯːʔ
菜	*sʰɯːs
埰	*sʰɯːs
棌	*sʰɯːs

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *sʰɯːʔ): phonetic 采 (OC *sʰɯːʔ) + semantic 彡.

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		彩
2nd round simp.		采
alternative forms		采 綵

Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tsəw-s/t (“colour; dye”); compare Tibetan ཚོས (tshos, “dye”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, 色 (OC *s.rək, “colour”) may be a dialectal variant (Baxter, 1992; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cǎi (cai³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄞˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): coi²
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): chhái / chhói

  (Meixian, Guangdong): cai³ / coi³

• Eastern Min (BUC): chāi
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chhái

  (Teochew, Peng'im): cai²

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tshe
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): cai³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cǎi
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄞˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cǎi
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻai³
    • Yale: tsǎi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsae
    • Palladius: цай (caj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaɪ̯²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: coi²
    • Yale: chói
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: coi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔːi̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhái / chhói
    • Hakka Romanization System: cai^ˋ / coi^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: cai³ / coi³
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰai̯³¹/, /t͡sʰoi̯³¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: cai³ / coi³
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰaɪ³¹/, /t͡sʰoɪ³¹/

Note:

• chhói/coi3 - “luck; fortune”.

• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: chāi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰai³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhái
    • Tâi-lô: tshái
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhae
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sʰai⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰai⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰai⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰai⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰai⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: cai²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshái
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰai⁵²/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵tshe
    • MiniDict: tshe^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tshe
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sʰe³⁴/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: cai³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰai̯⁴¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: tshojX

Rime
Character	彩
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	咍 (41)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	倉宰切
Baxter	tshojX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰʌiX/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰəiX/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰɒiX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰəjX/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰᴀiX/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰɒiX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/t͡sʰɑ̆iX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cǎi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	coi2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s.r̥ˤəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sʰɯːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	彩
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	cǎi
Middle Chinese	‹ tshojX ›
Old Chinese	/*s.r̥ˁəʔ/
English	colorful
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	彩
Reading #	1/1
No.	1072
Phonetic component	采
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	采
Old Chinese	/*sʰɯːʔ/

Definitions

彩

1. variegated colors; rich and bright colors
2. literary or artistic grace or talent; variety; gracefulness; brilliance
3. applause; cheer
4. blood from a wound
5. lottery prize; winnings
6. wager; stake; bet
7. luck; fortune

   好彩 [Sixian Hakka]  ―  hó-chhói [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  good luck

8. to be lucky (in gambling)
9. a surname

Compounds

• 七彩繽紛 / 七彩缤纷
• 下彩
• 上彩 (shàngcǎi)
• 不彩
• 中彩
• 五彩 (wǔcǎi)
• 五彩繽紛 / 五彩缤纷 (wǔcǎibīnfēn)
• 亭彩
• 亭彩店
• 人體彩繪 / 人体彩绘 (réntǐ cǎihuì)
• 倒彩 (dàocǎi)
• 傅彩
• 光彩 (guāngcǎi)
• 光彩奪目 / 光彩夺目 (guāngcǎiduómù)
• 六合彩 (Liùhécǎi)
• 六彩
• 凊彩 (chhìn-chhái) (Min Nan)
• 出彩 (chūcǎi)
• 口彩
• 唐三彩 (tángsāncǎi)
• 喝倒彩 (hèdàocǎi)
• 喝彩 (hècǎi)
• 地方色彩
• 多彩多姿 (duōcǎiduōzī)
• 大古裡彩 / 大古里彩
• 大放異彩 / 大放异彩 (dàfàngyìcǎi)
• 夾彩塑 / 夹彩塑
• 奪彩 / 夺彩
• 好彩頭 / 好彩头
• 宋三彩
• 張燈掛彩 / 张灯挂彩
• 張燈結彩 / 张灯结彩
• 彩券 (cǎiquàn)
• 彩印 (cǎiyìn)
• 彩卷 (cǎijuǎn)
• 彩口
• 彩唱 (cǎichàng)
• 彩噴 / 彩喷 (cǎipēn)
• 彩坊
• 彩塑 (cǎisù)
• 彩帶 / 彩带 (cǎidài)
• 彩帶舞 / 彩带舞
• 彩度
• 彩影
• 彩扮
• 彩排 (cǎipái)
• 彩擴 / 彩扩 (cǎikuò)
• 彩數 / 彩数 (coi2 sou3) (Cantonese)
• 彩旗 (cǎiqí)
• 彩旦 (cǎidàn)
• 彩棚 (cǎipéng)
• 彩樓配 / 彩楼配
• 彩氣 / 彩气
• 彩氣兒 / 彩气儿
• 彩照 (cǎizhào)
• 彩燈 / 彩灯
• 彩球 (cǎiqiú)
• 彩畫 / 彩画
• 彩磚 / 彩砖
• 彩票 (cǎipiào)
• 彩禮 / 彩礼 (cǎilǐ)
• 彩筆 / 彩笔 (cǎibǐ)
• 彩管生花
• 彩紙 / 彩纸 (cǎizhǐ)
• 彩綢 / 彩绸 (cǎichóu)
• 彩練 / 彩练 (cǎiliàn)
• 彩繪 / 彩绘 (cǎihuì)
• 彩聲 / 彩声 (cǎishēng)
• 彩色 (cǎisè)
• 彩色世界
• 彩色正片
• 彩色照
• 彩色片
• 彩色玻璃 (cǎisè bōli)
• 彩色筆 / 彩色笔 (cǎisèbǐ)
• 彩葉芋 / 彩叶芋
• 彩葉草 / 彩叶草
• 彩號 / 彩号 (cǎihào)
• 彩號兒 / 彩号儿
• 彩虹 (cǎihóng)
• 彩蛋 (cǎidàn)
• 彩調 / 彩调 (cǎidiào)
• 彩車 / 彩车 (cǎichē)
• 彩轎 / 彩轿 (cǎijiào)
• 彩釉 (cǎiyòu)
• 彩金
• 彩錢 / 彩钱
• 彩陶 (cǎitáo)
• 彩陶文化
• 彩雕 (cǎidiāo)
• 彩雲 / 彩云 (cǎiyún)
• 彩雲易散 / 彩云易散
• 彩電 / 彩电 (cǎidiàn)
• 彩霞 (cǎixiá)
• 彩頭 / 彩头 (cǎitóu)
• 彩鳳隨鴉 / 彩凤随鸦
• 彩鷁 / 彩鹢
• 彩墨
• 愛心彩券 / 爱心彩券
• 懸燈結彩 / 悬灯结彩
• 手彩兒 / 手彩儿
• 抓彩
• 掛彩 / 挂彩 (guàcǎi)
• 掛燈結彩 / 挂灯结彩
• 摸彩
• 敷彩泥塑
• 文彩 (wéncǎi)
• 斑衣戲彩 / 斑衣戏彩
• 日彩
• 明窗彩戶 / 明窗彩户
• 星彩
• 水彩 (shuǐcǎi)
• 水彩畫 / 水彩画 (shuǐcǎihuà)
• 沒精打彩 / 没精打彩 (méijīngdǎcǎi)
• 油彩
• 淡彩
• 滿堂彩 / 满堂彩
• 澹彩
• 火彩兒 / 火彩儿
• 無彩 / 无彩 (bô-chhái) (Min Nan)
• 燈彩 / 灯彩
• 特藝彩色 / 特艺彩色
• 牽彩 / 牵彩
• 琺瑯彩 / 珐琅彩
• 異彩 / 异彩 (yìcǎi)
• 當場出彩 / 当场出彩
• 眉分八彩
• 硬彩
• 神彩奕奕
• 祥雲瑞彩 / 祥云瑞彩 (xiángyúnruìcǎi)
• 空優迷彩 / 空优迷彩
• 粉彩 (fěncǎi)
• 精彩 (jīngcǎi)
• 精彩生動 / 精彩生动
• 精彩逼人
• 結彩 / 结彩 (jiécǎi)
• 繪彩陶 / 绘彩陶
• 色彩 (sècǎi)
• 色彩繽紛 / 色彩缤纷
• 萊彩 / 莱彩
• 藹彩 / 蔼彩
• 虹彩 (hóngcǎi)
• 虹彩膜
• 蛋彩畫 / 蛋彩画
• 蟾彩
• 討彩 / 讨彩
• 豐神異彩 / 丰神异彩
• 迷彩 (mícǎi)
• 遼三彩 / 辽三彩
• 酷彩 (Kùcǎi, “Le Creuset”)
• 釉下彩
• 釉彩
• 錯彩鏤金 / 错彩镂金
• 鏤彩摛文 / 镂彩摛文
• 雕花漆彩
• 雲彩 / 云彩
• 電腦彩噴 / 电脑彩喷
• 頭彩 / 头彩 (tóucǎi)
• 鬥彩 / 斗彩

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 彩 – see 綵 (“varicolored silk”). (This character is the simplified and variant traditional form of 綵).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.