再
zài · HSK 1
again
🔁 再 = 'again' — zài rhymes with 'sigh' you give when asked to do it one more time
再 (zài) means again, once more, or further. Common in 再见 (zàijiàn, goodbye = again-see) and 再来 (zài lái, come again). The top stroke plus 冉 hint at piling on — adding one more layer.
再 — top 一 + 冂 frame + 土-like inner strokes
再 originally depicted a stack of fish or piled objects, suggesting accumulation or repetition. Over time it came to mean 'again' or 'once more,' emphasizing a second occurrence of an action. The modern form is stylized and no longer clearly pictographic.