整 (zhěng) · whole; entire; complete

Meanings

1 whole; entire; complete
2 neat; tidy
3 to put in order; to fix

Characters

整

zhěng

whole; neat; to put in order

Examples

HSK 1

现在是三点整。

Xiànzài shì sān diǎn zhěng.

It's exactly three o'clock.

HSK 3

整个城市都很安静。

Zhěnggè chéngshì dōu hěn ānjìng.

The entire city is very quiet.

HSK 4

把房间整理一下。

Bǎ fángjiān zhěnglǐ yíxià.

Tidy up the room.

Tips

usage

整个 = the whole/entire. 整理 = to tidy up/organize. 整整 = a full/complete (emphasizes completeness): 整整三年 (a full three years).

grammar

When telling time, 整 means 'sharp/exactly': 八点整 (8 o'clock sharp). It goes after the time.

Components

radical

攵 pū

tap; strike (radical form)

Top-right rap radical - the abbreviated form of 攴 (a hand holding a stick). Kangxi #66, the indexing radical of 整. Adds the action sense: tapping things into place, knocking bundles into shape. Same radical anchors 故 (cause), 教 (teach), 改 (reform), 收 (gather) - verbs of active intervention.

semantic

束 shù

bundle; tie up

Top-left 束 - a pictograph of a bundle being tied with a cord through the middle (a 木-tree shape with a 口 binding band around it). Carries the literal meaning: things being tied into tidy bundles, the act 整 names. Phonetically also a partial sound source (shù → zhěng, regular palatal-to-retroflex drift).

semantic

正 zhèng

upright; correct

Bottom 正 - straight, upright, correct. Reinforces the meaning: bundles tapped into proper alignment. Also nudges the sound closer to zhěng (regular tone shift). The full picture is 'tie things into bundles (束) + tap them with a stick (攵) + make them straight (正)' = neaten up, set in order.