支
to support; to sustain; to erect; to raise; branch; division; to draw money; classifier for rods such as pens and guns, for army divisions and for songs or compositions
4 strokes
Dict coverage rank #655 U+652F
How 支 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
A hand 又 holding a branch 十 for support
How to remember it
offshoot · Heisig RSH #650
needle + crotch — as a component also called: branch
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Characters built with 支 as their sound component
These characters all use 支 (zhī) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 支 sound component | zhī | to support, to sustain; to withdraw, to pay; a branch (of a bank) |
| 技 | jì | ability, talent; skill, technique |
| 鼓 | gǔ | drum; to beat, to strike; to rouse |
| 翅 | chì | wings; fins |
| 枝 | zhī | branches, limbs; to branch off |
| 肢 | zhī | limbs |
| 歧 | qí | to diverge, to fork; a branch; a side road |
| 跂 | qí | to creep, to crawl |
| 吱 | zhī | to chirp; to hiss; to squeak |
| 岐 | qí | to diverge, to branch; the name of a mountain |
| 豉 | chǐ | fermented beans |
| 忮 | zhì | stubborn; perverse; aggressive |
| 庋 | guǐ | cupboard, pantry |
| 芰 | jì | water caltrop |
Words containing 支
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小支气管 | xiǎo zhī qì guǎn | bronchiole |
| 乐不可支 | lè bù kě zhī | overjoyed (idiom); as pleased as punch |
| 一木难支 | yī mù nán zhī | lit. a single post cannot prop up a falling house (idiom); fig. one is helpless alone |
| 支气管 | zhī qì guǎn | bronchial tube; bronchus |
| 公共开支 | gōng gòng kāi zhī | public expenditure |
| 十二地支 | shí èr dì zhī | the 12 earthly branches 子[zi3], 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥 (used cyclically in the ca… |
| 大月支 | Dà Yuè zhī | variant of 大月氏[Da4 Yue4 zhi1] |
| 支原体 | zhī yuán tǐ | Mycoplasma (parasitic bacteria without cell wall) |
| 空头支票 | kōng tóu zhī piào | bounced check; bad check; (idiom) empty promise |
| 空白支票 | kòng bái zhī piào | blank check |
| 不支 | bù zhī | to be unable to endure |
| 支子 | zhī zǐ | son of a concubine or son of the wife other than her first |
| 支子 | zhī zi | support; stand; trivet; (cooking utensil) gridiron; (variant of 梔子|栀子[zhi1 zi5]) cape jasm… |
| 饭后一支烟，赛过活神仙 | fàn hòu yī zhī yān , sài guò huó shén xiān | have a smoke after each meal and you will surpass the immortals (proverb) |
| 军费开支 | jūn fèi kāi zhī | military spending |
| 地支 | dì zhī | the 12 earthly branches 子[zi3], 丑[chou3], 寅[yin2], 卯[mao3], 辰[chen2], 巳[si4], 午[wu3], 未[we… |
| 支行 | zhī háng | subbranch of a bank |
| 分支 | fēn zhī | branch (of company, river etc); to branch; to diverge; to ramify; to subdivide |
| 支出 | zhī chū | to spend; to pay out; expenses; expenditure |
| 支开 | zhī kāi | to send (sb) away; to change the subject; to open (an umbrella etc) |