Meaning of 至
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to arrive
- most
- to
- until
How to use 至
On its own, 至 is formal and often appears in written ranges, like 从…至… meaning "from… to…." In speech you meet it mostly inside words like 至少, 甚至 and 至今. Example: 我至少等了一个小时。 (Wǒ zhìshǎo děng le yí ge xiǎoshí.) I waited for at least an hour.
Picture 至 (zhì) as an arrow that has flown down and landed on the ground line at the bottom. It has arrived at its endpoint, which links to the meanings "to arrive," "until," and "the most."
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 至 (zhì) with 到 (dào). 到 actually contains 至 on its left side, but 到 is the everyday word for "arrive," while 至 sounds bookish when used alone. Also watch the shape: 至 looks a bit like 室 (shì, room) without the roof, so do not mix them up.
至 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
至 zhì · to arrive · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 至.
| 至少 | zhìshǎo | at least; (to say the) least |
| 至今 | zhìjīn | so far; to this day |
| 甚至 | shènzhì | even; so much so that |
| 至于 | zhìyú | as for; as to |
| 不至于 | bùzhìyú | unlikely to go so far as to; not as bad as |
| 截至 | jiézhì | up to (a time); by (a time) |
| 直至 | zhízhì | lasting until; up till (the present) |
| 以至于 | yǐzhìyú | down to; up to |
| 至关重要 | zhìguān-zhòngyào | extremely important; vital |
| 至此 | zhìcǐ | up until now; so far |
| 乃至 | nǎizhì | and even; to go so far as to |
| 自始至终 | zìshǐ-zhìzhōng | from start to finish (idiom) |
Questions about 至
What does 至 mean?
至 (zhì) means "to arrive; most" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 至?
至 is made of 1 character: 至 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 至 an HSK word?
Yes. 至 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 至于 and 关于?
至于 (zhìyú) shifts to a new topic in the middle of a conversation, like "as for." 关于 (guānyú) means "about" or "concerning" and usually introduces the main topic. For example: 我去，至于他，我不知道。 means "I'm going. As for him, I don't know."
How is 截至 different from 直至 or 至今?
截至 (jiézhì) marks a cutoff date for counting or reporting, as in 截至昨天 (as of yesterday). 至今 (zhìjīn) means "up to now" and stresses that something is still true today. Both are common in news and formal writing.