Dong Chinese dictionary

zhǐ, zhī

only

Origin unclear. In simplified Chinese, in addition to the meaning "only", 只 is also used as a measure word. In traditional Chinese this meaning is written as 隻.

Evolution

Seal script

Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

只

zhǐ

only; merely; just; but

只 (隻)

zhī

single, one of pair, lone; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc

只 (祇)

zhǐ

variant of 只[zhǐ]

只 (秖)

zhǐ

grain that has begun to ripen; variant of 衹|只[zhǐ]

Most common words with 只

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	只	only
	只是	merely
	只要	if only
	只能	can only
	只不过	only

Component uses

Sound component in 9 characters (4 verified)

Sources

MTSU Chinese text computing

季旭昇《說文新證》p.149-150

Freq.

Word

Meaning