唯

wéi, wěi

口 + 隹

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

wéi (adverb) only; alone

wěi (particle) yes

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound.

About

唯 is a phono-semantic compound: 口 (kǒu) on the left indicates speech or vocalization, while 隹 (zhuī) on the right, originally a pictograph of a short-tailed bird, provides the sound. Historically it expressed a sound of agreement, but today it mainly serves as an adverb or conjunction meaning "only" or "merely".

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Oracle etymology image

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Spring and Autumn (771-476 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他是唯一的学生。

Tā shì wéiyī de xuéshēng.

He is the only student.

唯独他喜欢这个电影。

Wéidú tā xǐhuān zhège diànyǐng.

Only he likes this movie.

我唯一的要求是诚实。

Wǒ wéiyī de yāoqiú shì chéngshí.

My only request is honesty.

在团队中，他是唯一的领导者。

Zài tuánduì zhōng, tā shì wéiyī de lǐngdǎo zhě.

In the team, he is the only leader.

如果没有唯一的选择，我们会困惑。

Rúguǒ méiyǒu wéiyī de xuǎnzé, wǒmen huì kùnhuò.

If there is no only choice, we will be confused.

她之所以成功，唯靠坚持不懈的努力。

Tā zhī suǒyǐ chénggōng, wéi kào jiānchí bùxiè de nǔlì.

The reason she succeeded is only through persistent effort.

唯物主义者认为物质是唯一的实在。

Wéiwù zhǔyì zhě rènwéi wùzhì shì wéiyī de shízài.

Materialists believe that matter is the only reality.

在诸多方案中，唯此方案既能节省成本又能提高效率。

Zài zhūduō fāng'àn zhōng, wéi cǐ fāng'àn jì néng jiéshěng chéngběn yòu néng tígāo xiàolǜ.

Among many plans, only this plan can both save costs and improve efficiency.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 口

Component: 隹

Example Words