趾

zhǐ
noun #13,901

Measure Word

一个趾 gè

Meanings

  1. 1 toe

Characters

Examples

HSK 4
Tā de dà zhǐ shòushāng le.
His big toe was injured.
HSK 5
Jiǎozhǐtou dòng de fāhóng.
The toes were red from the cold.

Tips

usage
趾 is the formal/written form. In everyday speech, 脚趾 or 脚趾头 is much more common for 'toe'.

Components

radical
足 zú
foot
Left-side foot radical - pictograph of a leg ending in a foot (口 ankle on top, 止 toes below). The indexing radical, naturally so: 趾 is the toe specifically. Foot-radical family covers movement and lower-body anatomy: 跑 to run, 跳 to jump, 跟 heel, 踝 ankle, 踏 to step on.
phonetic
止 zhǐ
stop; foot
Right side 止 supplies the sound: zhǐ → zhǐ, identical pinyin and tone. 止 is itself an ancient pictograph of a footprint (the same shape at the bottom of 足), originally meaning 'foot' before shifting to 'stop / halt.' Double semantic echo: a foot-character built from foot + foot, with the right side also locking the sound.

Stroke Order

趾 zhǐ