What 第 means
It marks a numbered position. 第几 asks which place; 几 asks how many.
Traditional analysis links 第 to bamboo writing slips (thin strips bound in order): 竹 points to bamboo; 弟 hints at the sound. Older dictionary entries also record rank, civil examinations, and residence or estate senses. Han clerical writing, an old Chinese style from the Han dynasty, includes a form topped by 艹. Some older analyses treated 苐 and 第 as separate characters with the same sound but different meanings; dictionaries also record 苐 as a long-used variant.
Neutral grammar.
Bare 第 leaves the position unstated; ask which number was meant.
Who writes 第
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Don't confuse it with
2
Related characters
1
Combination ideas
1the first time
More like this
9
Collections with 第
2
How to type or find 第
- Search it as
- ordinal · di4 · dì · dai · 第几
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
Windows (Word)
Windows
HTML
第CSS
\7B2CCodes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
第
HTML hex
第
CSS content
content: "\7B2C";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E7%AC%AC
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.