脊 (jǐ): (bound form) spine, backbone, (bound form) ridge

脊 (jǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) spine.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 人 (structural) and ⺼ (structural). It ranks #2175 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 脊 a vertebra 人 protruding from the flesh ⺼. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 肉 meat10 strokesFrequency #2175人 structural ⺼ structural

Definitions

(bound form) spine
backbone
(bound form) ridge

Etymology & Origin

脊

ideographicA vertebra 人 protruding from the flesh ⺼

Components:人structural ⺼structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 脊 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
脊椎noun	jǐ zhuī	vertebra
山脊noun	shān jǐ	mountain ridge
脊柱noun	jǐ zhù	spinal column
脊髓noun	jǐ suǐ	spinal cord
脊骨noun	jǐ gǔ	backbone
脊背noun	jǐ bèi	back (of a human or other vertebrate)
脊梁noun	jǐ liáng	backbone
脊椎骨noun	jǐ zhuī gǔ	vertebra
背脊noun	bèi jǐ	the back of the human body
里脊noun	lǐ ji	(tender)loin (of pork, beef etc)
脊梁骨noun	jǐ liang gǔ	backbone
脊椎动物noun	jǐ zhuī dòng wù	vertebrate
书脊noun	shū jǐ	spine of a book
屋脊noun	wū jǐ	roof ridge
脊髓炎noun	jǐ suǐ yán	myelitis

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

脊 appears in 53 compound words: 47 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 21 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 脊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

椎zhuī

0.75511,317 co-occurrences

髓suǐ

0.7193,547 co-occurrences

柱zhù

0.5211,885 co-occurrences

骨gǔ

0.5042,656 co-occurrences

山shān

0.4386,934 co-occurrences

屋wū

0.4251,573 co-occurrences

脑nǎo

0.424500 co-occurrences

灰huī

0.424784 co-occurrences

檐yán

0.423210 co-occurrences

物wù

0.4226,286 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

戳脊梁骨chuō jǐlianggǔHSK 7+

to speak ill of someone behind their back; to backbite

verb

脊索动物jǐsuǒ dòngwùHSK 7+

chordate

noun

脊椎动物jǐzhuī dòngwùHSK 7+

vertebrate

noun

世界屋脊shìjiè wūjǐHSK 7+

the Roof of the World

糖醋里脊táng cù lǐ jǐHSK 7+

sweet and sour pork

phrase

Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 脊.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

脊字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。

jǐ zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The character for "spine" is written in a very distinctive way, which left a deep impression on me.

99 健康网Mar 2026

...勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?多发性硬化损伤脊髓传导通路吗

. . . bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? duō fā xìng yìng huà sǔn shāng jǐ suǐ chuán dǎo tōng lù ma

... What causes an erection? Does multiple sclerosis damage spinal cord conduction pathways?

Hk01.comFeb 2026

护脊|煲剧最伤腰颈!医生揭久坐陷阱打机反减...

hù jǐ bāo jù zuì shāng yāo jǐng ! yī shēng jiē jiǔ zuò xiàn jǐng dǎ jī fǎn jiǎn . . .

Spine protection|Watching dramas hurts the waist and neck the most! Doctors reveal the trap of sedentary play and reduce the number of games...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...骨折不只是意外背后恐藏隐形推手手腕、脊椎与髋部尤其要注意

. . . gǔ zhé bù zhī shì yì wài bèi hòu kǒng zàng yǐn xíng tuī shǒu shǒu wàn , jǐ chuí yǔ 髋 bù yóu qí yāo zhù yì

... Fractures are not just accidents, there may be invisible pushers behind them, especially the wrists, spine and hips

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Feb 2026

【锦绣中国年】世界屋脊献青春_光明网

jǐn xiù zhōng guó nián shì jiè wū jǐ xiàn qīng chūn guāng míng wǎng

【Splendid Chinese Year】The roof of the world presents youth_Guangming.com

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

...路“强芯” 国网宁夏送变电公司攻坚世界屋脊电气化动脉

. . . lù qiáng xīn guó wǎng nìng xià sòng biàn diàn gōng sī gōng jiān shì jiè wū jǐ diàn qì huà dòng mài

... The State Grid Ningxia Power Transmission and Transformation Company tackles the electrification arteries of the roof of the world

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 脊 (jǐ) mean in Chinese?

脊 (jǐ) primarily means "(bound form) spine." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2175 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 脊 have?

脊 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 脊?

The radical associated with 脊 is 肉 (meat). This radical appears in many characters related to meat.

What are the components of 脊?

脊 is composed of: 人 (structural), ⺼ (structural). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 脊?

Common words with 脊 include: 脊椎 (jǐ zhuī, "vertebra"); 山脊 (shān jǐ, "mountain ridge"); 脊柱 (jǐ zhù, "spinal column"); 脊髓 (jǐ suǐ, "spinal cord"); 脊骨 (jǐ gǔ, "backbone"). There are over 53 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 脊 (jǐ)?

Several characters share the pronunciation jǐ: 机 (machine, opportunity), 己 (self), 几 (how many), 计 (to calculate), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 脊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 脊 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 脊 with real-time feedback

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