旨 (zhǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “purpose”. It is written from 匕 (ancient spoon; dagger) and 日 (sun; day), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “the main point; purpose”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
匕 + 日
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode IDS ⿱匕日, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (2 + 4 = 6)
Memory aid
A spoon (匕) held above the sun (日): you taste what the day is really about. Both parts are really in this character — it means the point, the gist.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 主旨zhǔ zhǐmain idea; gist; central theme旨 = zhǐspoken aszhú zhǐ
Go deeper
All readings
purpose; gist
purpose; aim; the main point of what is said or written; (formal) an imperial decree
话语或文章的主要意思、意图；旧时也指帝王的命令。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 主旨zhǔ zhǐmain idea; gist; central theme旨 = zhǐspoken aszhú zhǐ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 旨 mean?
旨 (zhǐ) means purpose; aim; the main point of what is said or written; (formal) an imperial decree.
How do you pronounce 旨?
It is pronounced zhǐ.
What parts is 旨 made of?
匕 (ancient spoon; dagger) and 日 (sun; day), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode IDS ⿱匕日, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (2 + 4 = 6). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 旨 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 旨?
日. 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 旨?
Common ones are 主旨. The reading of 旨 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.