noun #9,556

Meanings

  1. 1 rock jutting out over water; rocky shore
  2. 2 jetty; rocky islet

Examples

Tā zhàn zài jī shí shàng diàoyú.
He stood on the rocky outcrop fishing.
Luòshānjī shì Měiguó zuì dà de chéngshì zhīyī.
Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in America.

Tips

usage
is rare as a standalone word. Most learners encounter it in 洛杉矶 (Luòshānjī, Los Angeles) where it serves as a phonetic transliteration for '-les'. The stone radical hints at its original meaning of rocky shore.

Components

radical
shí
stone; rock
(the stone radical) gives the literal substance — is a rocky outcrop jutting into water, the kind of jetty or rocky islet anglers fish from. Same radical in (brick), (sand), (stele), all stone-themed.
phonetic
small table; how many
jī provides the sound. The simplified form (from traditional ) replaced the older phonetic with the much simpler , which shares the jī reading. Same phonetic shortcut applies to , , across the simplification reform.

In Pop Culture

洛杉矶 Luòshānjī
Los Angeles
largest city in California — literally 'forest of sandalwood rocks'

Stroke Order