(): muscle

() is a Chinese character meaning “muscle.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #1911 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, flesh. Its radical form (moon) appears in many related characters such as (yuè, moon, month), (yǒu, to have), (péng, friend).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. muscle

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticflesh

Decomposition: ⿰⺼几 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounjī ròumuscle5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
jī fūskin
fù jīabdominal muscle
kuò yuē jīsphincter
jī jiàntendon (anatomy)
xīn jīmyocardium
xiōng jīpectoral muscles
xīn jī gěng sè(Tw) myocardial infarction
jī tǐthe body
xīn jī yánmyocarditis
píng huá jīsmooth muscle (anatomy)
héng wén jīstriated muscle
lèi jiàn jīintercostal muscle (between ribs)
jī lǐtexture (of skin, surface etc)
gǔ gé jīstriated muscle
bù suí yì jīinvoluntary muscle
77
Total compounds
27
As first character
58
As last character
14
As middle character

appears in 77 compound words: 27 as the first character, 58 as the last, and 14 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

ròu
0.74856,884 co-occurrences
wěi
0.5972,700 co-occurrences
0.5773,384 co-occurrences
chí
0.5491,185 co-occurrences
0.4871,321 co-occurrences
0.4816,264 co-occurrences
0.479294 co-occurrences
qiàn
0.4621,044 co-occurrences
dàn
0.4623,852 co-occurrences
tuǐ
0.4561,764 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

bā kuài fù jīHSK 7+

six pack (abdominal muscles)

phrase
bùsuíyìjīHSK 5+

involuntary muscle

noun
jīròu zhùshèHSK 6+

intramuscular injection

noun
jīyuánxiānwéiHSK 7+

myofibril

noun
miànhuángjīshòuHSK 5+

to have a sallow complexion and emaciated body; to look sick or malnourished

phrase
xīnjī gěngsèHSK 6+

myocardial infarction; heart attack

noun
xīnjī gěngsǐHSK 5+

myocardial infarction; heart attack

noun
lún jī jiā suǐHSK 7+

lit. penetrate to the marrow (idiom); deeply affected; moved to the core

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

经常锻炼可以增强肉力量,提高身体素质。

Jīngcháng duànliàn kěyǐ zēngqiáng jīròu lìliàng, tígāo shēntǐ sùzhì.

Regular exercise can strengthen muscle power and improve physical fitness.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...内低回声有几种可能?包括妊娠囊、血块或小瘤吗

. . . nèi dī huí shēng yǒu jī zhǒng kě néng ? bāo kuò 妊 娠 náng , xiě kuài huò xiǎo jī liú ma

... How many possibilities are there for internal hypoechoic? Including gestational sacs, blood clots, or small fibroids

99 健康网Feb 2026

...子下面窄到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?和盆底过度紧张有关吗

. . . zǐ xià miàn zhǎi dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? hé pén de jī guò dù jǐn zhāng yǒu guān ma

... What's going on with the bottom of the sub so narrow that a finger hurts? Is it related to excessive tension in the pelvic floor muscles?

99 健康网Feb 2026

男生小便后甩一甩会不会导致尿失禁?盆底松弛者需谨慎吗

nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi huì bù huì dǎo zhì niào shī jīn ? pén de jī sōng chí zhě xū jǐn shèn ma

Will a boy's throw after urinating cause urinary incontinence? Should people with loose pelvic floor muscles be cautious?

EttodayFeb 2026

27岁男健身突胸痛肿胀 竟是罕见“胸大断裂”

2 7 suì nán jiàn shēn tū xiōng tòng zhǒng zhàng jìng shì hǎn jiàn xiōng dà jī duàn liè

The 27-year-old man's sudden chest pain and swelling during fitness is actually a rare "pectoralis major muscle rupture"

百度新闻Feb 2026

科学内调成美肤新刚需,原光以“产学研”硬实力登陆..

kē xué nèi diào chéng měi fū xīn gāng xū , jī yuán guāng yǐ chǎn xué yán yìng shí lì dēng lù . .

Scientific internal adjustment has become a new demand for skin beauty, the original light with "production, research" hard power to land...

Tatoeba

一般说来,男生的肉比女生发达。

Yībānshuōlái, nánshēng de jīròu bǐ nǚshēng fādá.

Generally speaking, men are physically stronger than women.

Tatoeba

记住,运动有助于增强肉和骨骼。

Jìzhu, yùndòng yǒuzhùyú zēngqiáng jīròu hé gǔgé.

Remember, exercise helps strengthen your muscles and bones.

Tatoeba

海格力斯有强健的肉。

Hǎi Gélì sī yǒu qiángjiàn de jīròu.

Hercules had strong muscles.

Tatoeba

他的腿部肉在他卧床不起的七个月中萎缩了。

Tā de tuǐbù jīròu zài tā wòchuáng bù qǐ de qī gè yuè zhōng wěisuō le.

The muscles in his legs had atrophied during the seven months he was bedridden.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 肌 (jī) mean in Chinese?
肌 (jī) primarily means "muscle." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1911 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 肌 and 铅?
肌 (jī) and 铅 (qiān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 月 vs 钅 (same 几 component).
How many strokes does 肌 have?
肌 is written with 6 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 肌?
The radical associated with 肌 is 月 (moon). This radical appears in many characters related to moon.
What are the components of 肌?
肌 is composed of: ⺼ (semantic), 几 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⺼几 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 肌?
Common words with 肌 include: 肌肉 (jī ròu, "muscle"); 肌肤 (jī fū, "skin"); 腹肌 (fù jī, "abdominal muscle"); 括约肌 (kuò yuē jī, "sphincter"); 肌腱 (jī jiàn, "tendon (anatomy)"). There are over 77 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 肌 (jī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jī: 讥 (to ridicule), 饥 ((bound form) hungry), 机 (machine, opportunity), 鸡 (chicken), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 肌 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 肌 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.