Phonosemantic compound. 戎 represents the meaning and 貝 represents the sound.
Components
Traditional (賊)
Simplified (贼)
Notes
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Similar Characters
狨 marmoset絨 down (trad)绒 cotton (simp)贼 thief (simp)寶 treasure (trad)得 must負 defeated (trad/jp)貪 greedy (trad/jp)貫 pierce (trad/jp)買 buy (trad/jp)賏 pearls or shells賓 visitor (trad/jp)唄 song (trad/jp)敗 fail (trad/jp)狽 short (trad)贅 unnecessary (trad)鋇 barium (trad)嗩 flute-like (trad)真 true財 riches (trad/jp)
Historical Evolution
贼
Bronze
Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
贼
Seal
Shuowen (~100 AD)
贼
Clerical
Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
贼
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
贼
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
贼
Regular
Modern
Chinese
贼 / 賊 [zéi]
thief; traitor; wily; deceitful; evil; extremely
Example Sentences
CHINESE WORDS (54)
盗贼 [dàozéi] #10,654
robber
海贼 [hǎizéi] #12,037
pirate
窃贼 [qièzéi] #14,042
thief
乌贼 [wūzéi] #15,418
cuttlefish
飞贼 [fēizéi] #22,567
cat burglar
卖国贼 [màiguózéi] #30,417
traitor
马贼 [mǎzéi] #32,069
horse thief
贼船 [zéichuán] #31,335
pirate ship
贼心 [zéixīn] #37,514
evil intentions
贼窝 [zéiwō] #37,567
thieves' lair
44 more
items
JAPANESE WORDS (79)
⭐ 盗賊 [とうぞく] #8,268
thief
仇 [あだ] #9,378
foe
⭐ 海賊 [かいぞく] #10,128
pirate
⭐ 山賊 [さんぞく] #15,545
bandit
海賊船 [かいぞくせん] #32,143
pirate ship
逆賊 [ぎゃくぞく] #33,240
rebel
義賊 [ぎぞく] #38,465
chivalrous thief
⭐ 烏賊 [イカ] #52,237
cuttlefish
国賊 [こくぞく] #54,547
traitor (to one's country)
賊軍 [ぞくぐん] #56,834
rebel army
69 more
items