How to Write 眦 (zì) — Meaning “corner of the eye”

Think of the sentence 'This (此) is the corner of my eye (目).' The left part is 'eye' and the right part sounds like 'this', so together they describe the eye's corner. You can also imagine pointing to the corner of your eye and saying 'this part'.

Write the left radical 目 first, making it narrow and tall. Then write 此 on the right, being careful that the top part (止) has four strokes and the bottom part (匕) has two strokes. A common mistake is to make the right side too wide or to confuse the order of strokes in 此, especially the last two strokes of the bottom component.

Unlike 相 (xiāng, meaning 'mutual' or 'appearance') which uses 木 (tree) on the right, 眦 uses 此 and specifically means 'corner of the eye'. 盹 (dǔn, meaning 'to doze') uses 屯 (to store) on the right and refers to a brief sleep, not a part of the eye. Visually, 眦 has a wider right side with more strokes than the other two.

眦 is a literary character not common in everyday speech, but it appears in idioms like 睚眦 (yá zì, a furious stare or a small grudge) and 眦裂 (zì liè, eyes splitting with rage). It is mainly used in written or formal contexts to describe intense anger or resentment, and carries a vivid, classical feel.

Common words containing 眦 include: 睚眦 (yá zì) — A furious stare; a small grudge.; 眦裂 (zì liè) — eyes splitting (with rage); 眦目 (zì mù) — to stare angrily.