jǐn
only
Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 堇 represents the sound.
Evolution

Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal script
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)Regular script
ModernMost common words with 僅
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
barely | ||
not only (this one) | ||
barely | ||
second only to... | ||
not only that, but ... |
Sources