tài

highest

greatest; too (much); very; extremely

big (大) + extra dot (丶) = pushed past big into too much

大 already means big or great; the extra dot pushes it one degree further, marking excess or the superlative. That single stroke transforms 'big' into 'too much' or 'the greatest.'

+
A dot indicating excessSemantic
BigSemantic

这碗汤热了,我要等一会儿。

zhè wǎn tāng tài rè le, wǒ yào děng yī huìr.

This bowl of soup is too hot, I need to wait a moment.

今天的作业多,我做到很晚才睡。

jīntiān de zuòyè tài duō, wǒ zuò dào hěn wǎn cái shuì.

Today's homework is too much; I worked on it until very late before sleeping.

Words with 太

太初

tài chū

the absolute beginning

太守

tài shǒu

governor of a province

通太

tōng tài

variant of 通泰[tong1 tai4]

逼人太甚

bī rén tài shèn

to push sb too far

雪山太子

xuě shān tài zǐ

also written 梅里雪山[Mei2 li3 Xue3 shan1]

马太

mǎ tài

(Protestantism) Matthew

马太福音

mǎ tài fú yīn

Gospel according to St Matthew

闹太套

nào tài tào

to be a laughing stock

麻生太郎

má shēng tài láng

ASŌ Tarō (1940-), Japanese entrepreneur and LDP politician, prime minister from 2008

黄腰太阳鸟

huáng yāo tài yáng niǎo

(bird species of China) crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja)

黑胸太阳鸟

hēi xiōng tài yáng niǎo

(bird species of China) black-throated sunbird (Aethopyga saturata)

三宝太监

sān bǎo tài jiàn

also written 三保太監|三保太监

More characters with 大