的士

Chinese

		phonetic
simp. and trad. (的士)		的	士
anagram		士的

Etymology

Borrowed from English taxi.

Originally Cantonese, but it has been gaining popularity in mainland China, although still much less common than its synonyms.

More often encountered as its shortened form 的 (dí, dī, “taxi”) in the Mainland, used in words such as 打的 (dǎdī, “to catch a taxi”), 的哥 (dīgē, “male taxi driver”), etc.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): dīshì, díshì

(Zhuyin): ㄉㄧㄕˋ, ㄉㄧˊ ㄕˋ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): dik¹ si^6-2

(Taishan, Wiktionary): det² si^4*
Eastern Min (BUC): dék^→dĭk-sê̤ṳ
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): deh⁶ so⁵
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): tek-sî / tiak-sî / tek-sū / tek-sí / tak--sī

(Teochew, Peng'im): di¹ se⁶ / dêg⁴ se⁶ / dêg⁴ si¹
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁷tiq-zy

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: dīshì
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄧㄕˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: dishìh
  - Wade–Giles: ti¹-shih⁴
  - Yale: dī-shr̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dishyh
  - Palladius: диши (diši)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: díshì
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄧˊ ㄕˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: díshìh
  - Wade–Giles: ti²-shih⁴
  - Yale: dí-shr̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dyishyh
  - Palladius: диши (diši)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    敵視 / 敌视
    的士
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: dik¹ si^6-2
  - Yale: dīk sí
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dik⁷ si^6-2
  - Guangdong Romanization: dig¹ xi^6-2
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɪk̚⁵ siː²²⁻³⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: det² si^4*
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tet̚⁵⁵ si²¹⁻²¹⁵/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: dék^→dĭk-sê̤ṳ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiʔ²⁴⁻²¹ søy²⁴²/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: deh⁶ so⁵ [Phonetic: deh⁴ so⁵]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: deh-seō
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɛʔ²¹⁻⁴² ɬo¹¹/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: deh⁶ so⁵ [Phonetic: deh⁷ so⁵]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɛʔ²⁻⁴ ɬo²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tek-sî
  - Tâi-lô: tik-sî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: deksii
  - IPA (Xiamen): /tiɪk̚³²⁻⁴ si²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tiak-sî
  - Tâi-lô: tiak-sî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: diaksii
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /tiak̚⁵⁻²⁴ si²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tek-sū
  - Tâi-lô: tik-sū
  - Phofsit Daibuun: deksu
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /tiɪk̚³²⁻⁵ su²²/
- (Hokkien: Penang)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tek-sí
  - Tâi-lô: tik-sí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: deksie
  - IPA (Penang): /tek̚³⁻⁴ si⁴⁴⁵/
- (Hokkien: Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tak--sī
  - Tâi-lô: tak--sī
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: di¹ se⁶ / dêg⁴ se⁶ / dêg⁴ si¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ti sṳ̆ / tek sṳ̆ / tek si
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti³³⁻²³ sɯ³⁵/, /tek̚²⁻⁴ sɯ³⁵/, /tek̚²⁻⁴ si³³/

Note:

di1 se6 - Chaozhou, Shantou, Chenghai, Jieyang;
dêg4 si1 - Jieyang.

Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁷tiq-zy
  - MiniDict: tih^入 zy
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴tiq-zr
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tiɪʔ³³ zz̩⁴⁴/

Noun

的士

(chiefly Cantonese, Min) taxi; cab; taxicab (Classifier: 輛／辆 m; 架 c)
搭的士 [Cantonese] ― daap³ dik¹ si^6-2 [Jyutping] ― to take a taxi

揸的士 [Cantonese] ― zaa¹ dik¹ si^6-2 [Jyutping] ― to drive a taxi
- 1991, “皇后大道東”, 林夕 (lyrics), 羅大佑 (music), performed by 羅大佑:
  
  會有鐵路城巴也會有的士 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
  会有铁路城巴也会有的士 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]
  wui⁵ jau⁵ tit³ lou⁶ sing⁴ baa¹ jaa⁵ wui⁵ jau⁵ dik¹ si^6-2 [Jyutping]
  We'll [still] have the railway and Citybus, and we'll [still] have taxis

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 出租汽車 (“taxicab”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		出租汽車 Mainland China, 出租車 Mainland China, 計程車 Taiwan, 的士 Hong Kong, 德士 Singapore
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	計程車, 小黃
	Malaysia	德士, 的士
	Singapore	德士
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	出租車
Lanyin Mandarin	Ürümqi	出租車
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	出租車
	Guiyang	出租車
	Guilin	出租車
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	出租車
Cantonese	Guangzhou	出租車, 的士
	Hong Kong	的士, 老的
	Taishan	的士
	Qinzhou	出租車, 的士, 的
Hakka	Meixian	出租汽車
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	計程車, 他庫西
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	計程車, 他庫西
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	計程車, 他庫西
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	計程車, 他庫西
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	計程車, 他庫西
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	計程車, 他庫西
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	的士
Southern Min	Xiamen	的士
	Quanzhou	的士
	Zhangzhou	的士
	Zhao'an	的士, 計程車
	New Taipei (Tamsui)	計程車, tha-khú-sih
	New Taipei (Pingxi)	tha-khú-sih
	Kaohsiung (Cijin)	計程車
	Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang)	計程車, tha-khú-sih
	Yilan (Toucheng)	計程仔
	Tainan	計程車
	Penghu (Xiyu)	計程車, tha-khú-sih
	Penang (Hokkien)	德司
	Singapore (Hokkien)	德司
	Manila (Hokkien)	的士, 計程車, 計車, 客車
	Shantou	的士
	Shantou (Chenghai)	的士
	Jieyang	的士
	Singapore (Teochew)	德司
	Wenchang	的士, 出租汽車
Wu	Shanghai	差頭, 出租車
Wu	Wenzhou	出租車

Derived terms

水上的士
的哥 (dīgē)
的士佬
的士牌
的士牌照
的姐 (dījiě)
空中的士
飛天的士 / 飞天的士

References

Institute of Linguistics, CASS, editor (2016), “的士”, in 现代汉语词典 [Xiandai Hanyu Cidian], seventh edition, Beijing: The Commercial Press, →ISBN.
“的士”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.