枝 (zhī): branch, twig

枝 (zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “branch, twig.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 支 (phonetic). It ranks #1482 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 枝 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. branch, twig

Etymology & Origin

枝

pictophonetictree

Decomposition: ⿰木支 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
树枝nounshù zhībranch
橄榄枝noungǎn lǎn zhīolive branch
枝叶nounzhī yèbranch and leaf
花枝招展phrasehuā zhī zhāo zhǎnlit. lovely scene of blossoming plants swaying in the breeze (idiom)
枝条nounzhī tiáobranch
细枝末节phrasexì zhī mò jiéminor details
荔枝nounlì zhīlitchi or lychee fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn.)
枝节nounzhī jiébranches and knots
枝干nounzhī gànbranch
节外生枝phrasejié wài shēng zhī(idiom) new problems arise unexpectedly
枝子nounzhī zitwig
花枝nounhuā zhīspray (sprig of a plant with blossoms)
分枝nounfēn zhībranch
粗枝大叶phrasecū zhī dà yèthick stems and broad leaves (idiom)
枝繁叶茂phrasezhī fán yè mào(of plants) to grow luxuriantly
50
Total compounds
30
As first character
36
As last character
34
As middle character

枝 appears in 50 compound words: 30 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 34 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 枝 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

攀pān
0.5552,024 co-occurrences
树shù
0.4952,544 co-occurrences
甘gān
0.48810 co-occurrences
抽chōu
0.47012 co-occurrences
枯kū
0.464468 co-occurrences
嫩nèn
0.441512 co-occurrences
花huā
0.4384,800 co-occurrences
珠zhū
0.43710 co-occurrences
藤téng
0.4362,280 co-occurrences
缠chán
0.434202 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (11)

本固枝荣běngùzhīróngHSK 6+

only when the foundation is consolidated can the parts develop

phrase
粗枝大叶cūzhīdàyèHSK 6+

careless; sloppy; over-generalized

phrase
横生枝节héngshēng zhījiéHSK 6+

to raise unexpected difficulties; to deliberately complicate an issue

phrase
花枝招展huāzhīzhāozhǎnHSK 6+

gorgeously dressed; all dolled up; seductively dressed

phrase
节上生枝jié shàng shēng zhīHSK 6+

a new branch grows out of a knot (idiom); fig. side issues keep arising

phrase
节外生枝jiéwàishēngzhīHSK 6+

new issues or troubles crop up from an already-existing problem

phrase
金枝玉叶jīnzhīyùyèHSK 6+

delicate and rare branches and leaves; person of royal lineage; descendants of aristocracy

phrase
细枝末节xìzhīmòjiéHSK 6+

trivial detail; tiny and insignificant detail

phrase
一枝独秀yīzhīdúxiùHSK 6+

to be the most outstanding

phrase
有枝有叶yǒu zhī yǒu yèHSK 6+

to become bogged down in the details (idiom)

phrase
枝繁叶茂zhīfányèmàoHSK 7+

to thrive; to prosper

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

暴风雨过后,街道上到处都是折断的树枝,环卫工人正在清理。

Bàofēngyǔ guòhòu, jiēdào shang dàochù dōu shì zhéduàn de shùzhī, huánwèi gōngrén zhèngzài qīnglǐ.

After the storm, broken branches were everywhere on the streets, and sanitation workers are cleaning them up.

LtnFeb 2026

佳冬拜百年福厂新丁新枝 六堆运动会“周岁组”抓周爬行

jiā dōng bài bǎi nián fú hǎn xīn dīng xīn zhī liù duī yùn dòng huì zhōu suì zǔ zhuā zhōu pá háng

Jia Dong worships the centennial Fuchang Xinding Xinzhi Liudui Games "first year group" grasps the week crawl

LtnFeb 2026

...政治!彰化市长林世贤的父亲,在228将枪枝带离派出所背上叛变罪。

. . . zhèng zhì ! zhāng huà shì cháng lín shì xián de fù qīn , zài 2 2 8 jiāng qiāng zhī dài lí pài chū suǒ bèi shàng pàn biàn zuì .

... Politics! Changhua Mayor Lin Shixian's father was guilty of treason by taking a gun out of the police station in 228.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

屏东新丁新枝祭祈福新生儿 客庄百年传统跨族群传承

bǐng dōng xīn dīng xīn zhī jì qí fú xīn shēng ér kè zhuāng bǎi nián chuán tǒng kuà zú qún chuán chéng

Pingtung Xinding Xinzhi Sacrifice to pray for newborns Hakka village's century-old tradition cross-ethnic inheritance

百度新闻Feb 2026

...爆紅—全網瘋玩「熱狗腸包X」 珍珠蝦滑楊枝甘露乜都塞

. . . bào 紅 quán 網 瘋 wán 熱 gǒu 腸 bāo zhēn zhū 蝦 huá 楊 zhī gān lù 乜 dōu sāi

... Popular - the whole network is crazy about playing "Hot Dog Sausage Bun X", pearl shrimp slippery, poplar branch nectar is stuffed with everything

Tatoeba

母亲在我的生日蛋糕上插上了十三枝蜡烛。

Mǔqīn zài wǒ de shēngrì dàngāo shàng chāshang le shísān zhī làzhú.

My mother put thirteen candles on my birthday cake.

Tatoeba

汤姆给了我一枝笔。

Tāngmǔ gěi le wǒ yī zhī bǐ.

Tom gave me a pen.

Tatoeba

他割掉了树上的几根树枝。

Tā gē diào le shù shàng de jǐ gēn shùzhī.

He cut some branches off the tree.

Tatoeba

灯笼在树枝上吊着。

Dēnglóng zài shùzhī shàngdiào zhe.

The lamp was suspended from the branch of a tree.

Tatoeba

女孩给了我一枝红玫瑰和一枝白玫瑰。

Nǚhái gěi le wǒ yī zhī hóng méiguī hé yī zhī bái méiguī.

The girl brought me a red and a white rose.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (tree) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 枝 (zhī) mean in Chinese?
枝 (zhī) primarily means "branch, twig." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1482 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 枝 and 技?
枝 (zhī) and 技 (jì) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 木 vs 扌 (same 支 component).
How many strokes does 枝 have?
枝 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 枝?
The radical associated with 枝 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 枝?
枝 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 支 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木支 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 枝?
Common words with 枝 include: 树枝 (shù zhī, "branch"); 橄榄枝 (gǎn lǎn zhī, "olive branch"); 枝叶 (zhī yè, "branch and leaf"); 花枝招展 (huā zhī zhāo zhǎn, "lit. lovely scene of blossoming plants swaying in the breeze (idiom)"); 枝条 (zhī tiáo, "branch"). There are over 50 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 枝 (zhī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhī: 肢 (limb), 只 (classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc), 知 (to know), 直 (Zhi (c. 2000 BC), fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝 descended from Shennong 神農|神农 Farmer God), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 枝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 枝 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 枝 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.