(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth")

(literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high official; (literary) but; however; (literary) only; just

bamboo (⺮) + younger brother (弟) = ordinal ranking

Official rankings were recorded on bamboo strips, and brothers are the original model of ordered sequence — first-born, second-born, and so on. Together they point to numbered position in a series.

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BambooSemantic
Younger brotherSemantic

Words with 第

门第

mén dì

family status

阖第光临

hé dì guāng lín

the whole family is invited (idiom)

韦瓦第

wéi wǎ dì

Vivaldi (name)

上第

shàng dì

top notch; highest quality

不第

bù dì

to fail the civil service examination (in imperial China)

世界第一

shì jiè dì yī

ranked number one in the world

全世界第一

quán shì jiè dì yī

world's first

刘光第

liú guāng dì

Liu Guangdi (1859-1898), one of the Six Gentlemen Martyrs 戊戌六君子[Wu4 xu1 Liu4 jun1 zi5] of the unsuccessful reform movement of 1898

加里波第

jiā lǐ bō dì

Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), Italian military commander and politician

勃艮第

bó gèn dì

Burgundy (Bourgogne), a medieval kingdom and later a powerful duchy, now a region of France

北京第二外国语学院

běi jīng dì èr wài guó yǔ xué yuàn

Beijing International Studies University (BISU)

印第安

yìn dì ān

native American

More characters with ⺮