(zhī): to weave

(zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “to weave.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #578 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, thread. Its radical form (silk) appears in many related characters such as (, to connect), (lěi, to accumulate), (shào, to continue).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to weave

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticthread

Decomposition: ⿰纟只 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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
verb/nounzǔ zhīto organize5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
biān zhīto weave
zhī wùfabric
jiāo zhīto interweave
zǔ zhī zhěorganizer
ruǎn zǔ zhīsoft tissue
fǎng zhīspinning and weaving
zhēn zhīknitting
fǎng zhī pǐntextile
fǎng zhī chǎngtextile factory
zhī jīloom
zhī bùwoven cloth
zhī bù jīloom
bā jiě zǔ zhīPalestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
zhī pǐntextile
zhī bǔdarning
100
Total compounds
17
As first character
58
As last character
25
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 17 as the first character, 58 as the last, and 25 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.

0.847756,662 co-occurrences
fǎng
0.71232,841 co-occurrences
gāi
0.46955,902 co-occurrences
dǎng
0.44029,988 co-occurrences
0.4315,808 co-occurrences
gòu
0.41418,408 co-occurrences
0.4071,488 co-occurrences
0.39913,998 co-occurrences
hǎn
0.3897,326 co-occurrences
mián
0.3842,232 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

ài hèn jiāo zhīHSK 6+

mixture of love and hate

phrase
Jīdì ZǔzhīHSK 5+

al-Qaeda

jiédì zǔzhīHSK 7+

connective tissue

noun
Jīnghé ZǔzhīHSK 5+

short for 經濟合作與發展組織/经济合作与发展组织 (Jīngjì Hézuò Yǔ Fāzhǎn Zǔzhī, “OECD”)

niú láng zhī nǚHSK 5+

Cowherd and Weaving maid (characters in folk story); separated lovers; Altair and Vega (stars)

phrase
Shàng Hé ZǔzhīHSK 5+

short for 上海合作組織/上海合作组织 (Shànghǎi Hézuò Zǔzhī, “Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; SCO”)

shìmào zǔzhīHSK 6+

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Shìwèi ZǔzhīHSK 5+

short for 世界衛生組織/世界卫生组织 (Shìjiè Wèishēng Zǔzhī)

yóurénrúzhīHSK 5+

teeming with tourists; crowded with visitors

phrase
kàngzǔzhī'ànHSK 6+

(pharmacology) antihistamine

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这家工厂专门生产针品,产品出口到很多国家。

Zhè jiā gōngchǎng zhuānmén shēngchǎn zhēnzhīpǐn, chǎnpǐn chūkǒu dào hěn duō guójiā.

This factory specializes in producing knitwear; products are exported to many countries.

中国军网Feb 2026

陆军某旅着力提升基层党组书记抓建能力

lù jūn mǒu lǚ zhe lì tí shēng jī céng dǎng zǔ zhī shū jì zhuā jiàn néng lì

A brigade of the army focused on improving the ability of grassroots party organization secretaries to grasp construction

LtnFeb 2026

戏院音浪冲到最高点!国家级警报狂响 交电影音效有够共感

xì yuàn yīn làng chōng dào zuì gāo diǎn ! guó jiā jí jǐng bào kuáng xiǎng jiāo zhī diàn yǐng yīn xiào yǒu gòu gòng gǎn

The sound wave of the theater rushed to the highest point! The national alarm sounded wildly, and the sound effects of the intertwined movie were sympathetic enough

Hypebeast. TwFeb 2026

LABRUM 2026 秋冬:纺踏上国际旅程

L A B R U M 2 0 2 6 qiū dōng : fǎng zhī tà shàng guó jì lǚ chéng

LABRUM Fall/Winter 2026: Textiles embark on an international journey

NewsFeb 2026

...lling Games 成立 NGO 组 转型长期倡议平台推动游戏保护立法

. . . chéng lì zǔ zhī zhuǎn xíng cháng qī chàng yì píng tái tuī dòng yóu xì bǎo hù lì fǎ

Gaming for Good established an NGO to transform into a long-term initiative platform, driving legislation for gaming protection.

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

(米兰冬奥会)惊喜与突破交 中国冰雪向新而行

mǐ lán dōng ào huì jīng xǐ yǔ tū pò jiāo zhī zhōng guó bīng xuě xiàng xīn ér háng

(Milan Winter Olympics) Surprises and breakthroughs intertwine as China's ice and snow moves toward newness

Tatoeba

苏格兰以其羊毛纺品而著名。

Sūgélán yǐ qí yángmáo fǎngzhīpǐn ér zhùmíng.

Scotland is famous for its woollen textiles.

Tatoeba

他牺牲生命,出卖组

Tā xīshēng shēngmìng, chūmài zǔzhī.

He sacrificed his life and betrayed the organization.

Tatoeba

谁组了这次会议?

Shéi zǔzhī le zhè cì huìyì?

Who organized that meeting?

Tatoeba

谁组的这场活动?

Shéi zǔzhī de zhè chǎng huódòng?

Who organized this event?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 织 (zhī) mean in Chinese?
织 (zhī) primarily means "to weave." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #578 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 织 and 识?
织 (zhī) and 识 (shí) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 纟 vs 讠 (same 只 component).
How many strokes does 织 have?
织 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 织?
The radical associated with 织 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.
What are the components of 织?
织 is composed of: 纟 (semantic), 只 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰纟只 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 织?
Common words with 织 include: 组织 (zǔ zhī, "to organize"); 编织 (biān zhī, "to weave"); 织物 (zhī wù, "fabric"); 交织 (jiāo zhī, "to interweave"); 组织者 (zǔ zhī zhě, "organizer"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 织 (zhī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhī: 职 (job, duty), 支 (to support), 汁 (juice), 知 (to know), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 织 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 织 and the traditional form is 織.

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.