Meaning
禾 originally referred to growing grain crops, especially rice or millet. In modern Chinese, it appears mainly in literary contexts or compound words related to agriculture. It's also one of the 214 traditional Chinese radicals (禾部), commonly called the 'grain radical,' used in characters related to grain, crops, and agriculture.
Usage
As a standalone word, 禾 is quite literary and rarely used in everyday speech. Native speakers encounter it most often as a character component in words like 和 (hé, 'harmony'), 种 (zhǒng, 'to plant'), 秋 (qiū, 'autumn'), and 秒 (miǎo, 'second'). When discussing agriculture in classical texts or poetry, 禾 evokes images of ripening grain fields.
Examples
- 01田里的禾苗长得很好。.The grain seedlings in the field are growing well.
- 02古诗中常用禾来象征丰收。.In classical poetry, 禾 is often used to symbolize a bountiful harvest.
Measure words
- 株一株禾
- 棵一棵禾苗
Common collocations
- 禾苗seedlings (of grain crops)
- 嘉禾excellent grain (auspicious)
Origin
The character 禾 is a pictograph depicting a grain plant with drooping ears of rice or millet. The top radical represents the grain head, while the stem extends downward, visually representing a mature cereal plant ready for harvest.