The stop; foot radical — 止 (zhǐ)

A footprint — originally "to go", later "to stop". It builds 正 (upright, correct), 步 (a step), 此 (this) and 武 (military — stopping weapons).

4 strokes 8 example characters

At a glance

Radical
Pinyin
zhǐ
Meaning
Stop; foot
Strokes
4 (4 strokes section)

Stroke order

Characters built on

Every character below contains . Meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the translator, so you can look any of them up in full there.

zhèng
Straight (main - right - just - pure - regular - principle - directly)
Step (stages)
This
xiē
Some (a few)
wāi
Crooked (askew)
Military (martial)
kěn
Willing
齿
chǐ
Tooth

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— frequently asked questions

What does the Chinese radical 止 mean?

止 is pronounced zhǐ and means "stop; foot". It is written in 4 strokes. A footprint — originally "to go", later "to stop". It builds 正 (upright, correct), 步 (a step), 此 (this) and 武 (military — stopping weapons).

Which characters use the 止 radical?

Common examples include 正 (zhèng, Straight (main - right - just - pure - regular - principle - directly)), 步 (bù, Step (stages)), 此 (cǐ, This), 些 (xiē, Some (a few)). This page lists 8 of them with pinyin, meanings and audio.

How many strokes does 止 have?

4. Radical dictionaries file it in the 4 strokes section, which is how you look up an unfamiliar character when you cannot guess its pronunciation.

Other 4-stroke radicals

Keep going

Watch any of these characters being written in the Stroke Order Animator, practise them on printable 田字格 sheets, hunt radicals against the clock in Radical Hunt, or read the background in The 100 Most Common Chinese Radicals and Chinese Character Etymology.