径 (jìng): footpath, track, diameter

径 (jìng) is a Chinese character meaning “footpath.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彳 (semantic), 又 (structural) and 工 (phonetic). It ranks #1299 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 径 step. Its radical form 彳 (step) appears in many related characters such as 很 (hěn, very), 得 (dé, to obtain), 往 (wǎng, to go (in a direction)).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. footpath
  2. track
  3. diameter

Etymology & Origin

径

pictophoneticstep

Decomposition: ⿰彳⿱又工 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 径

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
途径nountú jìngway6
田径nountián jìngtrack and field (athletics)6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
口径nounkǒu jìngbore
捷径nounjié jìngshortcut
行径nounxíng jìng(usu. pejorative) conduct
半径nounbàn jìngradius
径直adverbjìng zhídirectly
路径nounlù jìngpath
直径nounzhí jìngdiameter
大相径庭phrasedà xiāng jìng tíngas different as can be (idiom)
小径nounxiǎo jìngalley
蹊径nounxī jìngpath
门径nounmén jìngaccess
径自jìng zìwithout leave
径赛jìng sàitrack events (athletics competition)
独辟蹊径phrasedú pì xī jìngto blaze a new trail (idiom)
田径运动nountián jìng yùn dòngtrack and field sports
77
Total compounds
13
As first character
75
As last character
12
As middle character

径 appears in 77 compound words: 13 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 12 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 径 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

途tú
0.60820,494 co-occurrences
直zhí
0.55024,478 co-occurrences
蹊xī
0.540217 co-occurrences
田tián
0.50113,810 co-occurrences
倍bèi
0.4742,604 co-occurrences
半bàn
0.4747,778 co-occurrences
赛sài
0.4468,918 co-occurrences
炮pào
0.4422,892 co-occurrences
锦jǐn
0.4301,290 co-occurrences
丁dīng
0.42810 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (9)

大相径庭dàxiāngjìngtíngHSK 6+

completely different; poles apart; as different as can be

phrase
独辟蹊径dúpìxījìngHSK 7+

to blaze a trail; to pioneer a new approach

phrase
径情直遂jìngqíngzhísuìHSK 7+

as smoothly as one would wish

phrase
另辟蹊径lìngpìxījìngHSK 7+

to explore new methods; to start a new style

verb
田径运动tiánjìng yùndòngHSK 6+

track and field; athletics

noun
行不由径xíngbùyóujìngHSK 6+

to act justly and honestly

phrase
羊肠小径yángchángxiǎojìngHSK 6+

narrow and twisted path

phrase
直情径行zhí qíng jìng xíngHSK 6+

straightforward and honest in one's actions (idiom)

phrase
终南捷径Zhōngnán jiéjìngHSK 6+

the shortcut to be an official, etc.

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习径字需要反复练习,才能写得工整。

xué xí jìng zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Mastering the character "径" requires repeated practice to achieve neat and precise writing.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...副/陈嘉新、钟文音对谈“书写创伤的几种路径”

. . . fù chén jiā xīn , zhōng wén yīn duì tán shū xiě chuàng shāng de jī zhǒng lù jìng

... Deputy/Chen Jiaxin and Zhong Wenyin talk on "Several Paths to Writing Trauma"

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...甫圳步道改善工程完工 议员促延伸“樱花小径”

. . . 甫 圳 bù dào gǎi shàn gōng chéng wán gōng yì yuán cù yán shēn 樱 huā xiǎo jìng

... The Fuzhen Trail Improvement Project was completed, and the lawmakers urged the extension of the "Cherry Blossom Trail"

美通社Feb 2026

...协议,致力扩大拉丁美洲生物相似药的可及途径

. . . xié yì , zhì lì kuò dà lā dīng měi zhōu shēng wù xiāng sì yào de kě jí tú jìng

... Agreement to expand access to biosimilars in Latin America

中国军网Feb 2026

特稿丨厘清建设军事理论内容体系的实践路径

tè gǎo 丨 lí qīng jiàn shè jūn shì lǐ lùn nèi róng tǐ xì de shí jiàn lù jìng

Special Article丨Clarify the practical path of building a military theoretical content system

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...观点/学习泰国经验 把生活动线铺成消费路径

. . . guàn diǎn xué xí tài guó jīng yàn bǎ shēng huó dòng xiàn pù chéng xiāo fèi lù jìng

... Perspective/Learning from Thailand's experience Pave the line of life into a consumption path

Tatoeba

田野和小径被雾气笼罩着。

Tiányě hé xiǎojìng bèi wùqì lǒngzhào zhe.

Mist hung over the fields and footpaths.

Tatoeba

用圆周能不能求得直径?

Yòng yuánzhōu néng bù néng qiúdé zhíjìng?

Is it possible to determine the diameter from the circumference?

Tatoeba

他寻找一切可能的逃生途径。

Tā xúnzhǎo yīqiè kěnéng de táoshēng tújìng.

He looked for every possible means of escape.

Tatoeba

去那个村庄的唯一途径是过河。

Qù nèige cūnzhuāng de wéiyī tújìng shì guò hé.

The only access to the village is from the river.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 彳 (step) component

彳 Radical Family — Characters sharing the step radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced jìng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 径 (jìng) mean in Chinese?
径 (jìng) primarily means "footpath." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1299 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 径 and 空?
径 (jìng) and 空 (kōng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 彳 vs 穴 (same 工 component).
How many strokes does 径 have?
径 is written with 8 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 径?
The radical associated with 径 is 彳 (step). This radical appears in many characters related to step.
What are the components of 径?
径 is composed of: 彳 (semantic), 又 (structural), 工 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰彳⿱又工 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 径?
Common words with 径 include: 口径 (kǒu jìng, "bore"); 途径 (tú jìng, "way"); 捷径 (jié jìng, "shortcut"); 行径 (xíng jìng, "(usu. pejorative) conduct"); 半径 (bàn jìng, "radius"). There are over 77 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 径 (jìng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jìng: 经 (pass through,经典). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 径 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 径 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 径 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.