极 (jí) is a Chinese character meaning “the furthest point”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 及 (reach; extend to), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “extreme; the furthest point”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 及
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+6781 modern glyph decomposition ⿰木及, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke counts (木 4 + 及 3 = 7)
Memory aid
A tree (木) that has reached (及) as far as it can possibly grow — you have hit the extreme.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 积极jī jípositive; active; enthusiastic极 = jíHSK 4
- 北极běi jíthe North Pole; the Arctic极 = jí
- 太极拳tài jí quántai chi (a Chinese martial art)极 = jí
Go deeper
All readings
extreme
the furthest point; pole; extreme; (as adverb) extremely, to the utmost
顶点；最高处；地球的南北两端。用作副词时表示程度最高。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 积极jī jípositive; active; enthusiastic极 = jíHSK 4
- 北极běi jíthe North Pole; the Arctic极 = jí
- 太极拳tài jí quántai chi (a Chinese martial art)极 = jí
Sound component
及 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 极 mean?
极 (jí) means the furthest point; pole; extreme; (as adverb) extremely, to the utmost.
How do you pronounce 极?
It is pronounced jí.
What parts is 极 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 及 (reach; extend to), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+6781 modern glyph decomposition ⿰木及, verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke counts (木 4 + 及 3 = 7). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 极 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 极?
木. 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 极?
Common ones are 积极 and 北极. The reading of 极 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.