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Character
出
Strokes5
Radical凵
HSK1
Frequencyamong the 50 most common Chinese characters
出 means "to go out, come out, exit" and by extension "to produce, issue, appear". It is one of the first verbs a learner meets, in 出去 (go out), 出来 (come out), 出口 (exit), and 出发 (set off). It also works as a verb suffix showing motion outward or something emerging.
Mandarinchū · ㄔㄨ
Cantoneseceot1 · chēut
Always first tone in Mandarin. In directional compounds the following syllable is often neutral: 出去 chūqu, 出来 chūlai.
verb complementattached after a verb to show outward motion or emergence: 拿出来 take out, 想出 think up
verbto exceed, go beyond (出色, 出格)
measure wordact of a Chinese opera (in this sense traditionally written 齣)
How it is built
compound ideograph
Radical 凵. open container, hollow.
止meaning a foot, in the early forms; shows movement, now no longer visible in the modern shape
凵meaning a hollow or enclosure, i.e. the place being left; serves as the dictionary radical
Origin
Oracle-bone and bronze forms show a foot (止) stepping up and out of a hollow or pit-dwelling (凵) — the picture of leaving a place, hence "go out". Later seal and clerical writing smoothed the foot and enclosure into the modern shape, which is why nothing recognisable survives. The popular explanation "two mountains stacked up, so it sticks out" is a folk etymology based only on the modern form; the character has no historical connection to 山.
Remembering it
Think of the vertical stroke as a leg striding up and out of the two open brackets that box it in — someone stepping out of a hollow. The 'two mountains' image is a handy shape reminder, but remember it is not the real origin.
Words using it
出去chūqù · ceot1 heoi3to go out (away from speaker)
出 rarely stands alone as a full verb in modern Mandarin; you normally need a direction word (出去, 出来) or an object (出门, 出国). As a resultative complement it is extremely productive: 找出 find out, 看出 tell/discern, 拿出 take out. In Cantonese ceot1 is very common on its own: 出街 (ceot1 gaai1, go out on the town), 出嚟 (ceot1 lai4, come out). Note also that a taxi is 出租车 in the mainland but 的士 (dik1 si2) in Hong Kong and 計程車 in Taiwan.
Context
出 appears in many everyday idioms, such as 出人头地 (chū rén tóu dì, to rise above others, make a name for oneself) and 日出 (rìchū, sunrise). In classical opera, an act was counted with this character (written 齣), which is why 一出戏 means 'a play'.
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This page was written by an AI language model and may contain errors, particularly in etymology. Check anything you plan to rely on.
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