采

• Pinyin: cǎi
• Hanzi breakdown: 采 = 爫 (claw/hand) + 木 (tree), depicting picking from a tree

Meaning

To pick; to gather; to collect; to mine. The action of harvesting or extracting something.

A versatile verb used for picking plants (采花), collecting samples (采样), mining resources (采矿), and gathering information (采访). Often appears in compound words. The traditional form is 採.

Examples

1. 村民们每年秋天都会上山采蘑菇。 Villagers go up the mountain to pick mushrooms every autumn.
2. 研究人员正在采集土壤样本进行分析。 Researchers are collecting soil samples for analysis.
3. 这片山区盛产煤炭，采了几十年了。 This mountainous area is rich in coal and has been mined for decades.

Usage Guide

Context: agriculture, research, mining

Tone: active

Do Say

• 我们去采野花吧。(Let's go pick wildflowers.)
• 这里不允许采矿。(Mining is not allowed here.)

Don't Say

• 我采了一本书。(For taking/getting books, use 拿 or 取 — 采 is for picking/gathering natural things)

Origin & History

Originally depicted a hand (爪) picking from a tree (木). Simplified from 採, meaning to pluck or gather.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal