How to Write 羁 (jī) — Meaning “To restrain; to detain; a halter”

Imagine a horse (马) wearing a leather (革) halter while a net (罒) is thrown over it to keep it from running away. The image of a captured horse helps you recall that 羁 means "to restrain" or "to detain."

Pay attention to the stroke order: write the top radical 罒 (5 strokes), then the left-bottom 革 (9 strokes), and finally the right-bottom 马 (3 strokes). A common mistake is making the 革 and 马 too wide or unbalanced—keep them compact and evenly spaced under the 罒.

羁 focuses on restraining a horse (with 马 and 革), meaning "to detain" or "fetters." 罹 (lí) includes 心 (heart) and 隹 (bird), meaning "to suffer" or "disaster." 罾 (zēng) is a fishing net (罒 + 曾). Visually, 羁 has 革 and 马, while 罹 has 心 and 隹, and 罾 has 曾.

羁 appears in formal or literary terms like 羁绊 (fetters or emotional entanglement) and 羁押 (legal detention). It is not used in everyday conversation but is common in poetry, songs, and legal documents, often carrying a sense of restriction or loneliness—for example, 羁旅 (sojourn) implies a traveler who is stuck away from home.

Common words containing 羁 include: 羁绊 (jī bàn) — Fetters; entanglement; shackles; 羁留 (jī liú) — To detain; to stay behind; 羁押 (jī yā) — To detain; to take into custody.