肢 (zhī): limb

肢 (zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “limb.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺼ (semantic) and 支 (phonetic). It ranks #2268 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 肢 flesh. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 肉 meat8 strokesFrequency #2268⺼ semantic 支 phonetic

Definitions

limb

Etymology & Origin

肢

pictophoneticflesh

Decomposition: ⿰⺼支 (layout: left-right)

Components:⺼semantic 支phonetic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
肢体noun	zhī tǐ	limb
四肢noun	sì zhī	the four limbs of the body
肢解verb	zhī jiě	to dismember
截肢verb	jié zhī	amputation (medicine)
假肢noun	jiǎ zhī	artificial limb
下肢noun	xià zhī	lower limb (from hip to toes)
胳肢verb	gé zhi	(dialect) to tickle
胳肢窝noun	gā zhi wō	armpit
上肢noun	shàng zhī	upper limb (from shoulder to fingertips)
断肢	duàn zhī	severed limb
前肢noun	qián zhī	forelimb
义肢noun	yì zhī	artificial limb
腰肢noun	yāo zhī	waist
节肢动物noun	jié zhī dòng wù	arthropod
头脑简单四肢发达	tóu nǎo jiǎn dān sì zhī fā dá	all brawn no brains

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

肢 appears in 28 compound words: 14 as the first character, 64 as the last, and 21 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 肢 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

郎láng

0.52210 co-occurrences

植zhí

0.50012 co-occurrences

兽shòu

0.49810 co-occurrences

运yùn

0.47446 co-occurrences

腹fù

0.471323 co-occurrences

四sì

0.4667,652 co-occurrences

截jié

0.4632,129 co-occurrences

愈yù

0.44510 co-occurrences

残cán

0.439616 co-occurrences

躯qū

0.439104 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

四肢健全才能运动自如。

Sì zhī quánjiàn cáinéng yùndòng zìrú.

Having all four limbs intact allows free movement.

99 健康网Mar 2026

两个男生做下肢运动小腹变大是胀气吗?乳清蛋白不耐受会引...

liǎng gè nán shēng zuò xià zhī yùn dòng xiǎo fù biàn dà shì zhàng qì ma ? rǔ qīng dàn bái bù nài shòu huì yǐn . . .

Is it bloating if two guys' stomachs get bigger after doing lower-body exercises? Can whey protein intolerance cause...

99 健康网Mar 2026

两个男生做下肢运动小腹变大是不是穿错裤子?视觉误差放大...

liǎng gè nán shēng zuò xià zhī yùn dòng xiǎo fù biàn dà shì bù shì chuān cuò kù zǐ ? shì jué wù chā fàng dà . . .

Two guys are doing lower-body exercises—is their growing belly just a result of wearing the wrong pants? A visual illusion is making it look bigger...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

貓咪「小五郎」前肢傷口深難痊癒專業獸醫移植皮膚手術終康復

貓咪 xiǎo wǔ láng qián zhī 傷 kǒu shēn 難痊癒專業獸醫 yí zhí pí 膚 shǒu 術終 kāng 復

Cat "Kogoro" Suffers Deep, Slow-Healing Wound on Forepaw; Professional Veterinarian Performs Skin Graft Surgery for Full Recovery

東森新聞Feb 2026

醫起看/老翁處理海鮮感染海洋弧菌截肢保住一命

醫 qǐ kàn lǎo wēng 處 lǐ hǎi 鮮 gǎn rǎn hǎi yáng hú jūn jié zhī bǎo zhù yī mìng

The doctor took a look/The old man treated seafood infected with Vibrio marine and amputated his limb to save his life

TvbsFeb 2026

謝京穎孕肚卸貨倒數!懷雙胞胎「四肢超細」激瘦身材曝光

謝 jīng 穎 yùn dù xiè 貨 dǎo 數 ! 懷雙 bāo tāi sì zhī chāo 細 jī shòu shēn cái pù guāng

Xie Jingying's Pregnancy Countdown! Expecting Twins with "Ultra-Slim Limbs" Reveals Her Remarkably Slim Figure

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 肢 (zhī) mean in Chinese?

肢 (zhī) primarily means "limb." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2268 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 肢 and 技?

肢 (zhī) and 技 (jì) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 肉 vs 扌 (same 支 component).

How many strokes does 肢 have?

肢 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 肢?

The radical associated with 肢 is 肉 (meat). This radical appears in many characters related to meat.

What are the components of 肢?

肢 is composed of: ⺼ (semantic), 支 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⺼支 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 肢?

Common words with 肢 include: 肢体 (zhī tǐ, "limb"); 四肢 (sì zhī, "the four limbs of the body"); 肢解 (zhī jiě, "to dismember"); 截肢 (jié zhī, "amputation (medicine)"); 假肢 (jiǎ zhī, "artificial limb"). There are over 28 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 肢 (zhī)?

Several characters share the pronunciation zhī: 枝 (branch, twig), 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 肢 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 肢 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 肢 with real-time feedback

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