惟 (wéi) · only, alone, solely

Meanings

1 only
2 alone
3 solely
4 but

Characters

惟

wéi

only; solely

Examples

HSK 6

惟有努力才能成功。

Wéiyǒu nǔlì cáinéng chénggōng.

Only through hard work can one succeed.

HSK 6

此事惟你知晓。

Cǐshì wéi nǐ zhīxiǎo.

Only you know about this matter.

Tips

usage

惟 is a classical/literary variant of 唯. Both mean 'only'. 惟 appears frequently in formal writing, classical texts, and set expressions. In modern usage, 唯 is more common.

grammar

惟 can also function as a conjunction meaning 'but/however' in classical Chinese, similar to 但 in modern usage.

Components

radical

忄 xīn

heart (left-side form of 心)

Left heart radical, three strokes for the side-form of 心, used when heart sits on the left of a character. Indexes 惟 in the mental-state family with 想 to think, 怕 to fear, 情 emotion, 慢 slow. The heart anchor reflects the older meaning of 惟: 'to ponder, contemplate', restricting the mind to one thing alone, hence 'only.'

phonetic

隹 zhuī

short-tailed bird

Right 隹 supplies the sound, zhuī drifting to wéi via well-attested initial alternation in classical readings. 隹 itself depicts a short-tailed bird and survives mainly as a phonetic and structural component. The same phonetic drives 唯, 维, and 帷, all sharing the wéi reading.