知 (zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “to know”. It is written from 矢 (arrow) and 口 (mouth), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to know”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
矢 + 口
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：知，詞也。从口从矢
Memory aid
An arrow (矢) on the left, a mouth (口) on the right. Both parts are really in this character: when you know something, your words fly straight out like an arrow and hit the target.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 知己zhī jǐa close friend who truly understands you知 = zhī
- 知名zhī míngwell-known; famous知 = zhī
- 人尽皆知rén jìn jiē zhīknown to everyone; common knowledge知 = zhī
- 知悉zhī xīto know; to be informed of知 = zhī
- 知晓zhī xiǎoto know; to be aware of知 = zhī
Go deeper
All readings
to know
to know; to be aware of; to realize; knowledge
晓得；了解。也指知识、见识。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 知己zhī jǐa close friend who truly understands you知 = zhī
- 知名zhī míngwell-known; famous知 = zhī
- 人尽皆知rén jìn jiē zhīknown to everyone; common knowledge知 = zhī
- 知悉zhī xīto know; to be informed of知 = zhī
- 知晓zhī xiǎoto know; to be aware of知 = zhī
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 知 mean?
知 (zhī) means to know; to be aware of; to realize; knowledge.
How do you pronounce 知?
It is pronounced zhī.
What parts is 知 made of?
矢 (arrow) and 口 (mouth), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：知，詞也。从口从矢. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 知 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 知?
矢. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 知?
Common ones are 知己 and 知名. The reading of 知 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.