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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

直

zhí
straight; linear; undeviating
  • Ideogrammatic compound 會意
  • HSK 3
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 目
  • 8 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • derived
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Origin

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 目 (“eye”) + 丨 (“?”).

Used in oracle bone inscriptions as a sacrificial verb, the original character of 徝 or 循 ("to patrol; to follow"), and to denote compliance.

Later forms containing 𠃊(直) are actually the original character of 置. Unrelated to 具 and 真.

; "simply; only"

; "straight; right"

; “heterosexual”

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • ideaChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
  • ideaChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”

Words built on it: 一直, 直接, 直到, 值, 直播

Meanings

character
  1. straight; linear; undeviating
  2. to straighten
  3. vertical; upright; erect; perpendicular
  4. honest; fair; just; upright
  5. straightforward; forthright; frank
  6. directly; straight

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

直：正見也。从乚从十从目。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 不彎曲的。與「曲」、「彎」相對。 例：筆直、直線、直路
  2. 成垂直方向的。與「橫」相對。 例：直排、直行、直升機
  3. 不邪曲，沒有私心的。 例：正直、耿直
  4. 坦白爽快。 例：直爽、直率
  5. 連續不斷的。 例：一直
  6. 國字筆畫名稱。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 直 was written 字形演變

  1. 直 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 直 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 直 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 直 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 直 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 直 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 直