Definitions

zhī wings of birds; legs of animals

Etymology

About

is a phono-semantic compound: the flesh radical on the left indicates a body part, while on the right provides the pronunciation zhī. It served as an older variant of , which denotes the limbs or extremities of humans and animals. Standard orthography later favored as the phonetic component, making the prevailing form and leaving largely obsolete.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern