一

一 · yī

one; a, an; alone

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

one; a, an; alone

Mandarin
yī
Cantonese
jat1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 一 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

イチイツ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

ひとひとつ

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

イチ イツ ひと ひとつ

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

일

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
일
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

일:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

nhất

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

nhất

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+4E00
Radical
一 · 1
Strokes
1 · Unihan
Residual
0

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

1 strokes
一
Strokes
1
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

1 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

一(GHTJKPV)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 一

Character connections

103 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Sentence context · 7 matches

我一点都不怕你。

I'm not the least bit scared of you.
Source, contributors & licenses

Mandarin: Tatoeba #393879 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: GlossaMatik
English: Tatoeba #393877 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: CK

Source text unchanged. Original contributor and text editors are credited from the source log, separately from the current owner.

Sentence entry · words & provenance ↗

佢哋一啲興趣都冇。

They don't even have the slightest interest.
Source, contributors & licenses

Cantonese: Tatoeba #385617 · Original contributor: nickyeow · Text editors: nickyeow · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log
English: Tatoeba #6403816 · Original contributor: alishalikescats · Text editors: alishalikescats · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log

Source text unchanged. Original contributor and text editors are credited from the source log, separately from the current owner.

Sentence entry · words & provenance ↗
Written-form matches; sense and pronunciation are not automatically aligned. Corpus & selection ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
'jit · 於悉 反切 · #3288

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 16934 · 'jit = 臻開三入眞影

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
yī
kCantonese
jat1
kDefinition
one; a, an; alone
kTotalStrokes
1
kRSUnicode
1.0
kGradeLevel
1
kTGH
2013:1

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
yī 10001.010
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
yī 1351.020 · yí 1360.040 · yì 1368.160
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Explore 7 examples using 一 ↗

Exact source-spelling matches. Open the reader for dictionary lookups, construction notes and related examples. Occurrence does not establish a particular dictionary sense.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
1,192dictionary records using 一96forms using this shape0attributed sound links

Shape description
a single unit with no recorded split · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^一$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 1,192 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^一$(GHTJKPV)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.