草

cǎo

grass

straw; manuscript; draft (of a document); careless; rough; CL:棵[ke1],撮[zuo3],株[zhu1],根[gen1]

plant (艹) + early (早) = grass

艹 is the grass radical and carries all the meaning here. 早 mainly contributes the sound cǎo; grass is one of the earliest, most basic plants, so the pairing feels natural even if it is coincidental.

艹+早→草
早EarlyPhonetic
艹GrassSemantic

公园里的草又绿又软。

gōng yuán lǐ de cǎo yòu lǜ yòu ruǎn。

The grass in the park is both green and soft.

他写字太草,我完全看不懂。

tā xiě zì tài cǎo,wǒ wán quán kàn bù dǒng。

His handwriting is too careless; I can't understand it at all.

Words with 草

灯草

dēng cǎo

the spongy, white pulp inside the stem of rush plants, used as a wick for oil lamps

草酸

cǎo suān

oxalic acid C2H2O4

粮草

liáng cǎo

army provisions

草书

cǎo shū

grass script; cursive script (Chinese calligraphic style)

草木

cǎo mù

vegetation

草皮

cǎo pí

turf

茜草

qiàn cǎo

Indian madder; munjeet (Rubia cordifolia)

拈花惹草

niān huā rě cǎo

lit. to pick the flowers and trample the grass (idiom)

干草

gān cǎo

hay

草丛

cǎo cóng

underbrush

草甸

cǎo diàn

meadow

卧草

wò cǎo

(substitute for 我肏[wo3 cao4]) fuck

More characters with 艹

棻瞒蔫蔷爇蔬