jié
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 solitary; all alone
  2. 2 tiny; remaining

Examples

战后孑然一身
Zhànhòu tā jiérányìshēn.
After the war he was left utterly alone in the world.
Sǐshuǐ lǐ jiéjué zài niǔdòng.
Mosquito larvae wriggle about in the stagnant water.

Tips

usage
Best known from 孑然一身 (all alone, with no family or company). The pair 孑孓 separately names a wriggling mosquito larva.
memory
It looks like (child) with its right arm cut off — picture a lone, one-armed figure and you have both the look and the 'solitary, incomplete' meaning.

Components

ideograph
jié
solitary; all alone
Not decomposable: it is a stylized (child) drawn missing its right arm, an abstract picture of something incomplete and standing alone. Filed under the radical.

Stroke Order

jié