唯 (wéi) is a Chinese character meaning “only”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 隹 (short-tailed bird), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “only”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
口 + 隹
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 唯，諾也。从口隹聲; modern form verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (口 3 + 隹 8 = 11)
Memory aid
A mouth (口) beside a short-tailed bird (隹): of all the birds, this is the only one that can talk — the one and only.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 唯一wéi yīonly; sole; unique唯 = wéi
- 唯有wéi yǒuonly; only if; alone唯 = wéi
Go deeper
All readings
only
only; alone; solely
单单，只有；只。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 唯一wéi yīonly; sole; unique唯 = wéi
- 唯有wéi yǒuonly; only if; alone唯 = wéi
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 唯 mean?
唯 (wéi) means only; alone; solely.
How do you pronounce 唯?
It is pronounced wéi.
What parts is 唯 made of?
口 (mouth) and 隹 (short-tailed bird), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 唯，諾也。从口隹聲; modern form verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (口 3 + 隹 8 = 11). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 唯 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 唯?
口. 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 唯?
Common ones are 唯一 and 唯有. The reading of 唯 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.