匹 (pǐ): (bound form) matching, comparable to, (bound form) alone, single, one of a pair, classifier for horses, mules etc (Taiwan pr.)

匹 (pǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) matching.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 匸 (structural) and 儿 (structural). It ranks #1886 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically pictographic, 匹 a roll of cloth. Its radical form 匸 (hiding) appears in many related characters such as 区 (qū, area), 匿 (nì, to hide).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) matching
  2. comparable to
  3. (bound form) alone
  4. single
  5. one of a pair
  6. classifier for horses, mules etc (Taiwan pr.)

Etymology & Origin

匹

pictographicA roll of cloth

Decomposition: ⿷匸儿 (layout: surround-from-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
匹配adjectivepǐ pèito mate or marry
阿司匹林nounā sī pǐ lín(loanword) aspirin
奥林匹克proper-nounào lín pǐ kèOlympic
马匹nounmǎ pǐhorse
单枪匹马phrasedān qiāng pǐ mǎ(idiom) single-handed
阿斯匹林nounā sī pǐ línaspirin (loanword) (variant of 阿司匹林)
匹敌verbpǐ díto be equal to
奥林匹亚proper-nounào lín pǐ yàOlympia (Greece)
匹夫nounpǐ fūordinary man
布匹nounbù pǐcloth (by the yard)
奥林匹克运动会组织委员会ào lín pǐ kè yùn dòng huì zǔ zhī wěi yuán huìOlympic Organizing Committee
国际奥林匹克委员会guó jì ào lín pǐ kè wěi yuán huìInternational Olympic Committee
奥林匹克运动会proper-nounào lín pǐ kè yùn dòng huìOlympic Games
单人匹马phrasedān rén pǐ mǎsingle-handedly (idiom)
无可匹敌wú kě pǐ díunsurpassed
30
Total compounds
37
As first character
13
As last character
50
As middle character

匹 appears in 30 compound words: 37 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 50 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 匹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

奥ào
0.60018,324 co-occurrences
林lín
0.58636,910 co-occurrences
贯guàn
0.56111 co-occurrences
巡xún
0.50814 co-occurrences
克kè
0.50234,491 co-occurrences
季jì
0.49913,304 co-occurrences
晓xiǎo
0.48411 co-occurrences
运yùn
0.47410,536 co-occurrences
配pèi
0.46810,018 co-occurrences
堡bǎo
0.4574,004 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (7)

阿斯匹灵āsīpǐlíngHSK 7+

aspirin

noun
奥林匹克àolínpǐkèHSK 7+

Olympics; Olympiad (science competition)

noun
单枪匹马dānqiāngpǐmǎHSK 6+

single-handed; unassisted

phrase
单人匹马dānrénpǐmǎHSK 5+

single-handed; all by oneself

phrase
匹夫匹妇pǐ fū pǐ fùHSK 5+

(idiom) ordinary people; commoners

phrase
匹马单枪pǐ mǎ dān qiāngHSK 6+

see 單槍匹馬|单枪匹马

phrase
无可匹敌wú kě pǐ díHSK 5+

unsurpassed; unparalleled

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这匹马跑得很快,在比赛中获得了第一名。

Zhè pǐ mǎ pǎo de hěn kuài, zài bǐsài zhōng huòdé le dì yī míng.

This horse runs very fast and won first place in the competition.

It之家Mar 2026

...家空调巨省电 Pro 柔风版立式大 3 匹”开售,5499 元

. . . jiā kōng diào jù shěng diàn P r o róu fēng bǎn lì shì dà 3 pǐ kāi shòu , 5 4 9 9 yuán

... "Home Air Conditioner Ultra-Energy-Efficient Pro Gentle Breeze Edition 3-HP Floor-Standing Model" now on sale for 5,499 yuan

東方日報Mar 2026

幸运欢笑退出 吕健威多一匹实力马补上

xìng yùn huān xiào tuì chū lǚ jiàn wēi duō yī pǐ shí lì mǎ bǔ shàng

Lucky Laughter Withdrawn; Lui Kin-wai Adds Another Strong Contender

美通社Feb 2026

2026年PPA亞洲職業匹克球巡迴賽賽程揭曉,香港大滿貫賽將成為壓...

nián 亞 zhōu 職 業 pǐ kè qiú xún 迴 賽 賽 chéng jiē 曉 , xiāng gǎng dà 滿 貫 賽 將 chéng 為 壓 . . .

[Translation pending - quota exceeded]

美通社Feb 2026

2026年PPA亚洲职业匹克球巡回赛赛程揭晓,香港大满贯赛将成为压...

2 0 2 6 nián P P A yà zhōu zhí yè pǐ kè qiú xún huí sài sài chéng jiē xiǎo , xiāng gǎng dà mǎn guàn sài jiāng chéng wéi yā . . .

The schedule for the 2026 PPA Asian Professional Pickleball Tour has been announced, and the Hong Kong Grand Slam will be a press...

百度新闻Feb 2026

寻马记|能看到86匹灵动骏马的北齐壁画博物馆

xún mǎ jì néng kàn dào pǐ líng dòng jùn mǎ de běi qí bì huà bó wù guǎn

The Quest for Horses | The Northern Qi Mural Museum Where You Can See 86 Spirited Steeds

Tatoeba

匹诺曹,快道歉,不然就小心!

Pǐ nuò cáo, kuài dàoqiàn, bù rán jiù xiǎoxīn!

Pinocchio, apologize for that, or look out!

Tatoeba

奥林匹斯山? 那不是希腊众神鬼混的地方?

ào lín pǐ sī shān? nà bù shì Xīlà zhòng shén guǐhùn de dìfang?

Olympus? Isn't that where Greek gods hang out or something?

Tatoeba

奥林匹克的起源是什么?

àolínpǐkè de qǐyuán shì shénme?

What are the origins of the Olympics?

Tatoeba

可以让我骑一会儿这匹马吗?

Kěyǐ ràng wǒ qí yīhuìr zhè pǐ mǎ ma?

Can I ride this horse for a while?

Character Family

匸 Radical Family — Characters sharing the hiding radical

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced pǐ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 匹 (pǐ) mean in Chinese?
匹 (pǐ) primarily means "(bound form) matching." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1886 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 匹 have?
匹 is written with 4 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 匹?
The radical associated with 匹 is 匸 (hiding). This radical appears in many characters related to hiding.
What are the components of 匹?
匹 is composed of: 匸 (structural), 儿 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿷匸儿 with a surround-from-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 匹?
Common words with 匹 include: 匹配 (pǐ pèi, "to mate or marry"); 阿司匹林 (ā sī pǐ lín, "(loanword) aspirin"); 奥林匹克 (ào lín pǐ kè, "Olympic"); 马匹 (mǎ pǐ, "horse"); 单枪匹马 (dān qiāng pǐ mǎ, "(idiom) single-handed"). There are over 30 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 匹 (pǐ)?
Several characters share the pronunciation pǐ: 皮 (leather), 批 (to ascertain), 疲 (tired), 披 (to drape over one's shoulders), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 匹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 匹 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 匹 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.