Kilo Lingo

(zuì) - most, -est (superlative) in Mandarin

zuì

Traditional: 最

Line drawing of 最
Coloured illustration of 最
HSK 2
#158 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

most, -est (superlative)

Word origin

A single character used as the superlative marker, meaning most. It is composed of 冃 (a covering or hat element) over 取 (qǔ, to take or seize). The traditional Shuowen reading takes it as a phono-semantic or associative compound; the exact original sense is debated, so this breakdown describes the components rather than asserting a settled meaning.

Origin
compound
Root
冃 (covering) over 取 (qǔ, to take)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 最

Examples

This is the best.

He runs the fastest.

I like you the most.

This book is the most interesting.

Today's weather is the most pleasant.

最 (zuì) means most, -est (superlative). It is used as a adverb in everyday Mandarin speech.

Appears in 5 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 最.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 4.