chí
sustain
Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.
Evolution

Bronze script
Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
chí
sustain, support; hold, grasp; to hold; to grasp; to support; to maintain; to persevere; to manage; to run (i.e. administer); to control
Most common words with 持
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
to support | ||
to keep | ||
to persevere with | ||
to continue | ||
to keep |
Sources