Chinese Character Wiki
即

jí

promptly

Original meaning: 

eat

Depicts a kneeling person (卩) eating from a container of food (皀). Based on the original meaning "eat". The meaning later shifted to "come near", "approach", and "quickly".

Components
皀 iconic component

皀  Iconic component

jí, bī

  

one grain

Depicts a container of food.

卩 iconic component

卩  Iconic component

jié

  

person kneeling

Evolution

即 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
即 Bronze script Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
即 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
即 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
即 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

即  

jí

promptly, quickly, immediately; namely; that is; i.e.; prompt; at once; at present; even if; prompted (by the occasion); to approach; to come into contact; to assume (office); to draw near

Most common words with 即
Freq.
Word
Meaning

即使

even if

即

namely

立即

immediately

即将

on the eve of

即便

even if

Component uses

Sound component in 4 characters (1 verified)

節 唧 鯽 鲫

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*[ts]ik

tsik

jí

go to

*[ts]ik

tsik

jí

thereupon


Statistics

Not found in HSK word list

Appears in 59.7950% of movies

743rd most common character in movies

293rd most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

7

Unicode

U+5373

Shuowen

“卽，即食也。从皀，卪聲。”


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