紫

Tap the pinyin to hear it

purple; violet

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 5
Old HSK: Level 5
Strokes: 12
Radical: 糸 +5
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 紫
Common rank: #847
Unicode: U+7D2B

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 紫 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

糸 meaning “silk” + 此 sound ( cǐ )

Components 此糸

How to remember it

purple · Heisig RSH #2420

此 this (literary) + floss

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 紫

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
紫金山天文台	Zǐ jīn shān Tiān wén tái	Purple Mountain Observatory
大红大紫	dà hóng dà zǐ	to hit the big time
三色紫罗兰	sān sè zǐ luó lán	pansy
紫气东来	zǐ qì dōng lái	(idiom) auspicious omen heralding good fortune
紫金县	Zǐ jīn Xiàn	Zijin, a county in Heyuan City 河源市[He2 yuan2 Shi4], Guangdong
紫金山	Zǐ jīn Shān	Purple Mountain in suburbs of Nanjing, with Ming tombs and Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum
紫罗兰色	zǐ luó lán sè	violet (color)
紫阳县	Zǐ yáng Xiàn	Ziyang, a county in Ankang City 安康市[An1 kang1 Shi4], Shaanxi
紫外光	zǐ wài guāng	ultraviolet light
紫外射线	zǐ wài shè xiàn	ultraviolet ray
紫河车	zǐ hé chē	(TCM) dried human placenta (used as medicine)
紫花地丁	zǐ huā dì dīng	Chinese violet (Viola mandsurica)
紫外线	zǐ wài xiàn	ultraviolet ray
紫红色	zǐ hóng sè	red-purple; mauve; prune (color); claret
紫水鸡	zǐ shuǐ jī	(bird species of China) grey-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus)
紫罗兰	zǐ luó lán	(botany) common stock; gillyflower (Matthiola incana); (botany) violet
紫云苗族布依族自治县	Zǐ yún Miáo zú Bù yī zú Zì zhì xiàn	Ziyun Miao and Buyei Autonomous County, in Anshun City 安順市\|安顺市[An1 shun4 Shi4], Guizhou
紫云县	Zǐ yún Xiàn	see 紫云苗族布依族自治縣\|紫云苗族布依族自治县[Zi3 yun2 Miao2 zu2 Bu4 yi1 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]
紫金牛	zǐ jīn niú	Japanese ardisia (Ardisia japonica)
紫草科	zǐ cǎo kē	Boraginaceae (family of flowers and bushes)

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 此 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
此 sound part	cǐ	this, these; in this case, then
柴	chái	firewood, faggots, fuel; surname
雌	cí	female; feminine; gentle, soft
些	xiē	little, few; rather, somewhat
眦	zì	eye socket; the corner of the eye
赀	zī	wealth, property; to estimate, to count
呲	cī	to grimace; to bare one's teeth
疵	cī	flaw, fault, defect; disease
觜	zī	beak
訾	zī	to criticize, to bad-mouth; defect; betrayal
龇	zī	to bare one's teeth; crooked teeth
茈	zǐ	a plant yielding a red dye
髭	zī	mustache