指

Tap the pinyin to hear it

finger; to point at or to; to indicate or refer to; to depend on; to count on; (of hair) to stand on end

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

To point 旨 by hand 扌; 旨 also provides the pronunciation

Components 扌旨

finger · Heisig RSH #594

fingers + 旨 purpose

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
手指头	shǒu zhǐ tou	fingertip; finger
指点江山	zhǐ diǎn jiāng shān	to talk idly about important matters (idiom); to set the world to rights; to pass judgment…
指数基金	zhǐ shù jī jīn	index fund
日经指数	Rì jīng zhǐ shù	Nikkei 225 stock market index
无名指	wú míng zhǐ	ring finger
五指山市	Wǔ zhǐ shān shì	Wuzhishan City, Hainan
食指大动	shí zhǐ dà dòng	(idiom) to be excited to dig into the delicious food
指南车	zhǐ nán chē	a mechanical compass invented by Zu Chongzhi 祖沖之\|祖冲之
大指	dà zhǐ	thumb; big toe
指头	zhǐ tou	finger; toe; CL:個\|个[ge4]
中指	zhōng zhǐ	middle finger
自指	zì zhǐ	self-reference
小指	xiǎo zhǐ	little finger
指事字	zhǐ shì zì	ideogram (one of the Six Methods 六書\|六书 of forming Chinese characters); Chinese character i…
比中指	bǐ zhōng zhǐ	to give the middle finger
手指	shǒu zhǐ	finger; CL:個\|个[ge4],隻\|只[zhi1]
兰花指	lán huā zhǐ	hand gesture in traditional dances (joined thumb and middle finger, the rest extended)
指法	zhǐ fǎ	(music) fingering; (TCM) manipulation of acupuncture needles; (keyboard) typing technique;…
身体质量指数	shēn tǐ zhì liàng zhǐ shù	body mass index (BMI)
指出	zhǐ chū	to indicate; to point out