制 (zhì): system, to control, to regulate

制 (zhì) is a Chinese character meaning “system.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 巾 (phonetic) and 刂 (semantic). It ranks #163 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 制 knife. Its radical form 刂 (knife) appears in many related characters such as 分 (fēn, to divide), 别 (bié, to leave), 到 (dào, to reach).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. system
  2. to control
  3. to regulate

Etymology & Origin

制

pictophoneticknife

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 制

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
控制verbkòng zhìto control5
制造verbzhì zàoto manufacture5
制作verbzhì zuòto make5
限制verb/nounxiàn zhìto restrict5
复制verbfù zhìto duplicate5
制定verbzhì dìngto draw up5
制度nounzhì dùsystem (e.g. political, adminstrative etc)5
抑制verbyì zhìto inhibit6
录制verblù zhìto record (video or audio)6
机制nounjī zhìmechanism6
制品nounzhì pǐnproducts6
研制verbyán zhìto research and manufacture5
定制verbdìng zhìcustom-made6
制订verbzhì dìngto work out5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
制服verbzhì fúto subdue
制止verbzhì zhǐto curb
强制verbqiáng zhìto force
控制室kòng zhì shìcontrol room
自制zì zhìto maintain self-control
管制verbguǎn zhìto control
克制verbkè zhìto restrain
特制verbtè zhìspecially made
制造商nounzhì zào shāngmanufacturing company
抵制verbdǐ zhìto resist
控制权kòng zhì quáncontrol (as in "to win control")
制裁verbzhì cáito punish
制成zhì chéngto manufacture
制药verbzhì yàoto manufacture medicine
体制nountǐ zhìsystem
109
Total compounds
26
As first character
70
As last character
5
As middle character

制 appears in 109 compound words: 26 as the first character, 70 as the last, and 5 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 制 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

控kòng
0.637259,216 co-occurrences
抑yì
0.56529,397 co-occurrences
限xiàn
0.519121,457 co-occurrences
度dù
0.496139,506 co-occurrences
绘huì
0.47711,458 co-occurrences
改gǎi
0.46684,262 co-occurrences
裁cái
0.46622,196 co-occurrences
作zuò
0.464181,488 co-occurrences
造zào
0.45983,243 co-occurrences
遏è
0.4593,870 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

八旗制度bā qí zhì dùHSK 6+

Eight Banners system, the military and social organization of the Manchus between c. 1500 and 1911

phrase
出奇制胜chūqízhìshèngHSK 5+

to win by a surprise move

phrase
封建制度fēngjiàn zhìdùHSK 5+

feudal system; feudalism

noun
经济制裁jīng jì zhì cáiHSK 5+

economic sanctions

phrase
如法泡制rú fǎ pào zhìHSK 6+

see 如法炮製|如法炮制

phrase
如法炮制rúfǎpáozhìHSK 7+

to follow a set pattern; to follow suit

phrase
十六进制shí liù jìn zhìHSK 5+

hexadecimal

phrase
先发制人xiān fā zhì rénHSK 5+

(idiom) to gain the initiative by striking first; to preempt

phrase
一国两制yī guó liǎng zhìHSK 5+

one country, two systems (PRC proposal regarding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan)

phrase
因地制宜yīndìzhìyíHSK 5+

to formulate strategies according to local conditions

phrase
因时制宜yīnshízhìyíHSK 5+

to use methods appropriate to the current situation

phrase
自动控制zì dòng kòng zhìHSK 5+

automatic control

phrase

Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 制.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个制度已经实施多年,效果非常显著。

Zhè gè zhìdù yǐjīng shíshī duō nián, xiàoguǒ fēicháng xiǎnzhù.

This system has been implemented for many years with very significant results.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...联手 进击AI记忆体...力积电扛试产与制造重任

. . . lián shǒu jìn jī A I jì yì tǐ . . . lì jī diàn gāng shì chǎn yǔ zhì zào chóng rèn

... Join forces to attack AI memory... PSMC shoulders the heavy responsibility of trial production and manufacturing

三立新聞網Feb 2026

制药设备热起来 皇将开年营收就翻倍成长

zhì yào shè bèi rè qǐ lái huáng jiāng kāi nián yíng shōu jiù fān bèi chéng cháng

Pharmaceutical equipment is heating up, and the revenue of the emperor will double at the beginning of the year

風傳媒Feb 2026

...战就没有iPhone了?专家指苹果算力、制造太依赖两岸:决策近乎失职

. . . zhàn jiù méi yǒu i P h o n e le ? zhuān jiā zhǐ píng guǒ suàn lì , zhì zào tài yī lài liǎng àn : jué cè jìn hū shī zhí

... There will be no iPhone in battle? Experts point out that Apple's computing power and manufacturing are too dependent on both sides of the strait: decision-making is almost derelict

百度新闻Feb 2026

英国男子打砸香港机场 包中还搜出疑似管制药品

yīng guó nán zǐ dǎ zá xiāng gǎng jī chǎng bāo zhōng hái sōu chū yí shì guǎn zhì yào pǐn

British man vandalizes Hong Kong airport, suspected controlled substances found in his bag.

百度新闻Feb 2026

泽连斯基称乌克兰对白俄罗斯总统实施制裁

zé lián sī jī chèn wū kè lán duì bái é luó sī zǒng tǒng shí shī zhì cái

Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has imposed sanctions on the President of Belarus.

Tatoeba

怎么用路由器限制网速?

Zěnme yòng lùyóuqì xiànzhì wǎng sù?

How can a router be used to limit network speed?

Tatoeba

控制自己会说的语言可不简单呀!

Kòngzhì zìjǐ huì shuō de yǔyán kěbu jiǎndān ya!

It's not easy to control the languages that you can speak!

Tatoeba

公司为他们提供制服。

Gōngsī wèi tāmen tígōng zhìfú.

The company provides them with uniforms.

Tatoeba

她叫我们不要制造噪音。

Tā jiào wǒmen bù yào zhìzào zàoyīn.

She told us not to make a noise.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 刂 (knife) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 制 (zhì) mean in Chinese?
制 (zhì) primarily means "system." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #163 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 制 have?
制 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 制?
The radical associated with 制 is 刂 (knife). This radical appears in many characters related to knife.
What are the components of 制?
制 is composed of: 巾 (phonetic), 刂 (semantic). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 制?
Common words with 制 include: 控制 (kòng zhì, "to control"); 制造 (zhì zào, "to manufacture"); 制作 (zhì zuò, "to make"); 制服 (zhì fú, "to subdue"); 限制 (xiàn zhì, "to restrict"). There are over 109 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 制 (zhì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhì: 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), 指 (finger, point), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 制 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 制 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 制 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.