代

to be a substitute for; to act on behalf of; to replace; to substitute; generation; dynasty; age; period; (historical) era; (geological) eon

5 strokes Dict coverage rank #185 U+4EE3

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A man 亻 caught 弋 by the passing of time

components: 亻弋

substitute for · Heisig RSH #828

人 person + arrow

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Characters built with 代 as their sound component

These characters all use 代 (dài) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
代 sound component	dài	era, generation; to substitute for, to replace
袋	dài	bag, sack; pocket, pouch
贷	dài	to borrow; to lend; to pardon
黛	dài	to blacken one's eyebrows; black
岱	dài	the Daishan mountain in Shandong
玳	dài	tortoise shell

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
中生代	Zhōng shēng dài	Mesozoic (geological era 250–65 million years ago, covering the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cr…
中生代	zhōng shēng dài	the middle generation (between senior and junior cohorts, esp. in a profession)
下一代	xià yī dài	the next generation
代利斯	Dài lì sī	Dallys, Algerian seaport and naval base
分手代理	fēn shǒu dài lǐ	"break-up agent", person who acts for sb who wishes to terminate a relationship but does n…
代理人	dài lǐ rén	agent
代数学	dài shù xué	algebra (as branch of math.)
新一代	xīn yī dài	new generation
平安时代	Píng ān shí dài	Heian period (794-1185), period of Japanese history
中石器时代	Zhōng shí qì Shí dài	Mesolithic Era
子代	zǐ dài	offspring; child's generation
一代不如一代	yī dài bù rú yī dài	to be getting worse with each generation
代县	Dài Xiàn	Dai County or Daixian, a county in Xinzhou City 忻州市[Xin1 zhou1 Shi4], Shanxi
新生代	Xīn shēng dài	Cenozoic (geological era covering the last 65m years)
新生代	xīn shēng dài	new generation
一代	yī dài	an era; an age; a generation
线性代数	xiàn xìng dài shù	linear algebra
布尔代数	Bù ěr dài shù	Boolean algebra
全国人民代表大会	Quán guó Rén mín Dài biǎo Dà huì	National People's Congress (NPC)
黄金时代	huáng jīn shí dài	golden age