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奇

jī / qí
adjective #1,831

Meanings

  1. 1 odd (not divisible by 2)
  2. 2 uneven; not paired
  3. 3 remainder; fractional part beyond a round number

Examples

三、五、七都是奇数。
Sān, wǔ, qī dōu shì jīshù.
3, 5, and 7 are all odd numbers.
奇偶性指一个数是奇还是偶。
Jī'ǒu xìng zhǐ yí gè shù shì jī háishì ǒu.
Parity refers to whether a number is odd or even.
长约八分有奇。
Cháng yuē bāfēn yǒu jī.
The little boat is about eight fen long, with a bit more.

Tips

usage
The jī reading is narrow: math vocabulary (奇数 odd number, 奇偶 parity, 奇函数 odd function) plus a literary 'remainder beyond a round number' sense (有奇 'and a bit more', as in 八分有奇).
history
The jī 'odd / single' reading is the older one — classical texts define 奇 as 'not paired', tied to ancient yin/yang numerology where odd numbers were yang. The 'strange, marvelous' qí sense grew out of 'not paired → unusual → wondrous', and today carries almost all the everyday weight.

Components

radical
大 dà
big; large
Top indexing radical 大 — same shape and indexing role as on the qí page. The structure doesn't change between readings; only the meaning and sound split.
phonetic
可 kě
can; may; permissible
Bottom 可 was the original phonetic. The jī reading represents an older sound stratum than qí — both descend from the same Old Chinese root but diverged into a palatal series (jī) and a velar-fricative series (qí). Same phonetic in 河, 何, 歌.

Stroke Order

奇 jī