紫
zǐ · HSK 5
purple
💜 紫 = 此 (cǐ, phonetic) + 糸 (silk) — purple-dyed silk
The 糸 radical (silk) points to dyed cloth; 此 gives the sound. Historically, purple dye came from the root of 紫草 (zǐcǎo, Lithospermum), a costly pigment that made 紫 the color of nobility in imperial China.
紫 — 此 (phonetic) + 糸 (silk radical)
紫 is a phono-semantic compound. The bottom 糸 means 'silk' or 'thread', signaling that the character relates to dyed cloth, while 此 (cǐ) supplies the sound. It originally referred to purple-dyed silk, then broadened to mean the color purple in general.