初

chū

at first

(at the) beginning; first; junior; basic

cloth (衤) + knife (刀) = the very first cut

In ancient times, making a garment began with the first cut of cloth — so cloth and blade together capture the idea of a beginning. The moment the knife meets the fabric is the origin of something new.

衤+刀→初
刀KnifeSemantic
衤ClothingSemantic

他初学钢琴时,每天练习一个小时。

tā chū xué gāng qín shí, měi tiān liàn xí yī gè xiǎo shí。

when he first started learning piano, he practiced one hour every day.

这只是初步的计划,还需要再改。

zhè zhǐ shì chū bù de jì huà, hái xū yào zài gǎi。

this is only a basic plan; it still needs to be revised.

Words with 初

初中

chū zhōng

junior high school (abbr. for 初級中學|初级中学[chu1 ji2 zhong1 xue2])

初创

chū chuàng

startup (company, phase etc); newly established

初生

chū shēng

newborn

小升初

xiǎo shēng chū

progression from elementary school to junior high (abbr. for 小學生升入初中生|小学生升入初中生[xiao3 xue2 sheng1 sheng1 ru4 chu1 zhong1 sheng1])

初试

chū shì

preliminary exam

明末清初

míng mò qīng chū

late Ming and early Qing

初始化

chū shǐ huà

(computing) to initialize

初级中学

chū jí zhōng xué

junior high school

太初

tài chū

the absolute beginning

开初

kāi chū

at the outset

阿初佛

ā chū fó

erroneous variant of 阿閦佛, Aksobhya, the imperturbable ruler of Eastern Paradise, Abhirati

人之初,性本善

rén zhī chū , xìng běn shàn

man at birth is fundamentally good in nature (the first two lines of Three Character Classic 三字經|三字经[San1 zi4 Jing1])

More characters with 衤

褙裨裱褚袷袮袍