About
The character "只" traces its history to the traditional form "隻", structurally composed of "隹" meaning bird and "又" meaning hand, an ideogram conveying the capture of a single bird and thus implying singularity. This etymology led to its early use as a measure word primarily for birds, later broadening to various objects, while simultaneously developing an adverbial function equivalent to "only". The simplified form "只" itself derives from historical cursive and abbreviated variants of "隻", and it also represents the traditional character "祇", which is formed from the components "示" (altar) and "氏" (clan) and historically functioned as a limiting adverb. Through these pathways, the character "只" has come to encompass both the measure word and adverbial meanings in modern usage, with its form reflecting a reduction from a composite pictographic structure to a more minimalistic representation.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我有一只小猫。
他只喝牛奶。
我只要一杯水。
这只是个开始。
我们只有三个苹果。
只吃零食不健康。
他只完成了作业的一部分。
尽管他只有十岁，但他已经读了很多书。