How to Write 轵 (zhǐ) — Meaning “End of an axle”

Imagine a vehicle (车) that has only one 'end' sticking out, like a single finger (只 looks like a hand with one finger pointing). That finger points to the axle's end. So think: "vehicle + only one tip = tip of the axle."

When writing 轵, make sure the left radical 车 is narrow and slightly taller, while the right part 只 is wider and balanced. The horizontal stroke of 车 should not extend too far right; the last stroke of 只 (the dot below) should align well under the mouth. A common mistake is writing 只 too large, making the character look unbalanced.

轵 (zhǐ) means 'end of an axle' and uses the vehicle radical 车. 斩 (zhǎn) means 'to chop' and uses the radical 斤 (axe), so its shape is completely different—it has 斤 on the right, not 只. 軎 (wèi) also means the metal cap on an axle end, but it is written with 车 on the left and the upper part resembling 曰, not 只. Visually, 轵 has a clear 只 on the right, while 軎 has a more complex upper component.

轵 is not a common character in daily modern Chinese and is not part of the HSK vocabulary. It appears mainly in ancient place names, such as 轵道 (zhǐ dào), a historical road in China. You may also encounter it in classical texts about carriages, but it is rarely used in contemporary writing.

Common words containing 轵 include: 轵道 (zhǐ dào) — Zhidao (an ancient place name); 轵首 (zhǐ shǒu) — The end of an axle; 轵里 (zhǐ lǐ) — Zhili (a place name or part of a carriage).