Dictionary › 曹

曹

cáo

Character

What 曹 means

1. class or grade
2. generation
3. plaintiff and defendant (old)
4. government department (old)

Other readings

曹 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• Cáosurname Cao; Zhou Dynasty vassal state

Example sentences

• 这是曹操的奸计。
  Zhè shì Cáo Cāo de jiānjì.
  This is Cao Cao's trickery.
• 说曹操，曹操就到。
  Shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo jiù dào.
  Speak of the Devil and he doth appear.
• 匹诺曹，快道歉，不然就小心！
  Pǐ nuò cáo, kuài dàoqiàn, bù rán jiù xiǎoxīn!
  Pinocchio, apologize for that, or look out!

Words starting with 曹

• 曹操Cáo CāoCao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and…
• 曹雪芹Cáo Xuě qínCao Xueqin (c. 1715-c. 1764), accepted author of A Dream of Red Mansions 红楼梦
• 曹禺Cáo YúCao Yu (1910-1997), PRC dramatist
• 曹植Cáo ZhíCao Zhi (192-232), son of Cao Cao 曹操, noted poet and calligrapher
• 曹冲Cáo ChōngCao Chong (196-208), son of Cao Cao 曹操
• 曹县Cáo XiànCao County or Caoxian, a county in Heze City 菏泽市
• 曹魏Cáo WèiCao Wei, the most powerful of the Three Kingdoms, established as a dynasty in 220 by Cao…
• 曹不兴Cáo Bù xīngCao Buxing or Ts'ao Pu-hsing (active c. 210-250), famous semilegendary painter, one of…
• 曹刚川Cáo Gāng chuānCao Gangchuan (1935-), former artillery officer, senior PRC politician and army leader
• 曹白鱼cáo bái yúChinese herring (Ilisha elongata); white herring; slender shad
• 曹余章Cáo Yú zhāngCao Yuzhang (1924-1996), modern writer and publisher, author of Tales from 5000 Years of…
• 曹妃甸区Cáo fēi diàn QūCaofeidian, a district of Tangshan City 唐山市
• 曹靖华Cáo Jìng huáCao Jinghua (1897-1987), translator from Russian, professor of Peking University and…
• 曹丕Cáo PīCao Pi (187-226), second son of Cao Cao 曹操, king then emperor of Cao Wei 曹魏 from 220…
• 曹锟Cáo KūnCao Kun (1862-1938), one of the Northern Warlords
• 曹参Cáo CānCao Can (-190 BC), second chancellor of Han Dynasty, contributed to its founding by…
• 曹妃甸Cáo fēi diànsee 曹妃甸区

Words containing 曹

• 市曹shì cáomarket; official in charge of small merchants
• 我曹wǒ cáo(archaic) we; us; (net slang) (substitute for 我肏
• 阴曹yīn cáohell; the inferno
• 赴阴曹fù yīn cáoto enter hell
• 军曹鱼jūn cáo yúcobia or black kingfish (Rachycentron canadum)
• 绑赴市曹bǎng fù shì cáoto bind up and take to the market (idiom); to take a prisoner to the town center for…
• 萧规曹随Xiāo guī Cáo suílit. Xiao's 萧何; fig. to strictly adhere to the policies of the predecessor…
• 阴曹地府yīn cáo dì fǔnetherworld; Kingdom of the Underworld; Hades
• 聂姆曹娃Niè mǔ cáo wáBožena Němcová (1820-1862), Czech writer
• 三曹Sān Cáothe Three Caos (Cao Cao 曹操 and his sons Cao Pi 曹丕 and Cao Zhi 曹植), who established the…
• 说曹操曹操就到shuō Cáo Cāo Cáo Cāo jiù dàolit. speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives; fig. speak of the devil and he doth appear
• 身在曹营心在汉shēn zài Cáo yíng xīn zài Hànlive in Cao camp but have the heart in Han camp (idiom)…
• 说曹操，曹操到shuō Cáo Cāo , Cáo Cāo dàosee 说曹操曹操就到

Characters built on 日

These share the phonetic component 日 (rì), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 早zǎoearly; morning; Good morning!
• 暴bàosudden; violent; cruel
• 曝bàoused in 曝光; Taiwan pr. pù
• 昭zhāobright; clear; manifest
• 昊hàovast and limitless; the vast sky
• 曜yàobright; glorious; one of the seven planets of premodern astronomy
• 昴mǎothe Pleiades
• 杳yǎodark and quiet; disappear

Characters that look like 曹

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 资zīresources; capital; to provide
• 曾céngonce; already; ever (in the past)
• 婴yīnginfant; baby
• 晋jìnto move forward; to promote; to advance
• 菅jiān(grass); Themeda forsbali
• 啻chìonly (classical, usually follows negative or question words); (not) just

Sounds the same

Read cáo, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 嘈bustling; tumultuous; noisy
• 槽trough; manger; groove
• 漕to transport (esp. grain) by water; (literary) watercourse; canal
• 螬used in 蛴螬
• 蓸(a kind of herb)
• 艚seagoing junk