Dictionary › 荼

荼

tú

Character

What 荼 means

1. thistle
2. common sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus)
3. bitter (taste)
4. cruel
5. flowering grass in profusion

Example sentences

• 战争如火如荼。
  Zhànzhēng rúhuǒrútú.
  War is like a raging fire.

Words starting with 荼

• 荼毒tú dú(literary) to cause great suffering
• 荼毒生灵tú dú shēng língto torment the people (idiom)

Words containing 荼

• 如火如荼rú huǒ rú túlike wildfire (idiom); unstoppable
• 曼荼罗màn tú luó(Buddhism) (loanword from Sanskrit) mandala
• 秋荼密网qiū tú mì wǎngflowering autumn grass, fine net (idiom); fig. abundant and exacting punishments…
• 达罗毗荼Dá luó pí túDravidian (general term for South Indian people and languages)
• 食荼卧棘shí tú wò jíto eat bitter fruit and lie on thorns (idiom); to share the hard life of the common people

Characters built on 余

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

• 除chúto get rid of; to remove; to exclude
• 途túway; route; road
• 叙xùto narrate; to chat
• 涂túto apply (paint etc); to smear; to daub
• 徐xúslowly; gently
• 馀Yúsurname Yu
• 蜍chúBufo vulgaris; toad
• 狳yúused in 犰狳

Characters that look like 荼

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

• 茶chátea; tea plant
• 莓méi(bound form) berry (e.g. strawberry, blackberry, loganberry)
• 茜qiàn(bound form) Indian madder; munjeet (Rubia cordifolia); (bound form) madder red…
• 荟huìto flourish; luxuriant growth
• 荃quán(fragrant plant)
• 萘nàinaphthalene C10H8

Sounds the same

Read tú, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 图diagram; picture; drawing
• 途way; route; road
• 涂to apply (paint etc); to smear; to daub
• 徒(bound form) disciple; apprentice; believer; (derog.) wrongdoer…
• 屠to slaughter (animals for food); to massacre
• 腯fat (of pigs)
• 酴yeast
• 㻬a kind of jade
• 峹name of a mountain
• 嵞Mt Tu in Zhejiang; also written 涂
• 瘏be injured; ill (of animals)
• 稌sticky rice