直

Note the different forms, which differ in two respects: both Simplified and Traditional do not have a left vertical stroke, while the orthodox form does; and in simplified form, the top component is connected with the bottom, while in the orthodox they are separated – this last difference is shared with unrelated characters 真 and 具. The older form and stroke order are officially used in Japan and South Korea but an alternative writing in other countries.

直 (Kangxi radical 109, 目+3, 8 strokes, cangjie input 十月一一 (JBMM), four-corner 4071₆, composition ⿱十⿴𠀃三(GH) or ⿱𠂇⿴𠀃三(TV) or ⿱𠂇⿺𠃊目(JK))

• 值/値, 埴, 徝, 㥀, 㨁, 淔, 植, 殖, 犆, 禃, 䐈, 稙, 真, 惪, 悳, 嗭, 矗, 置

• 具

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 800, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 23136
• Dae Jaweon: page 1215, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 61, character 7
• Unihan data for U+76F4

• Unihan data for U+FAA8

• Unihan data for U+2F940

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 目 (“eye”) + 丨 (“vertical stroke”) – vertical stroke above the eye; looking straight ahead. Then, a black dot was drawn inside the vertical stroke and this point later became a horizontal stroke (hence getting a shape similar to 十).

The line on the side appears in bronze script and subsequently stretched under the 目 shape, while the traditional form appears in seal script.

A conservative version is used inside the character 𢛳 (> 德), while the modern version is used inside its variant 惪. Unrelated to 具 and 真.

"simply; only"

According to Schuessler (2007), cognate with 特 (OC *dɯːɡ, “single”). Also compare Darmiya taku (“one”).

"straight; right"

According to STEDT, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tjak/ŋ ~ tik/ŋ (“good; very; real; straight”), which also includes 正 (OC *tjeŋ, “first (lunar month)”), 正 (OC *tjeŋs, “straight; correct”), 政 (OC *tjeŋs, “government; rule”) and 實 (OC *ɦliɡ, “solid; true”). Cognates include Tibetan ཏིག་ཏིག (tig tig, “certainly”), Mizo dik (“correct”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *N-d(y)ak (“truly; very; intensitive”), whence Burmese တက်တက် (taktak, “very, completely”) and Burmese တျက်တျက် (tyaktyak, “almost, quite”). An allofam is probably 德 (OC *tɯːɡ, “virtue”) (Schuessler, 2007).

“heterosexual”

Semantic loan from English straight.

直

1. straight; linear; undeviating

   Antonyms: 彎 / 弯 (wān), 彎曲 / 弯曲 (wānqū), 攣 / 挛 (Cantonese)

   直線／直线  ―  zhíxiàn  ―  straight line

2. to straighten

   他直起腰來，手背在後面。 [MSC, trad.]
   他直起腰来，手背在后面。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā zhí qǐ yāo lái, shǒu bèi zài hòumiàn. [Pinyin]

   He straightened up, hands on his back.

3. vertical; upright; erect; perpendicular

   這個大堂直裡有八米，橫裡有十米。 [MSC, trad.]
   这个大堂直里有八米，横里有十米。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè ge dàtáng zhí lǐ yǒu bā mǐ, héng lǐ yǒu shí mǐ. [Pinyin]

   This hall is 8 meters in length and 10 meters in width.

4. honest; fair; just; upright

   正直  ―  zhèngzhí  ―  upright

5. straightforward; forthright; frank

   直說／直说  ―  zhíshuō  ―  to speak directly

6. directly; straight

   直去  ―  zhí qù  ―  to go directly to

7. stiff; numb

   今天太冷了，雙手凍直了。 [MSC, trad.]
   今天太冷了，双手冻直了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jīntiān tài lěng le, shuāngshǒu dòng zhí le. [Pinyin]

   Today's so cold, my two hands are frozen numb.

8. constantly; continuously

   他氣得直哆嗦。／他气得直哆嗦。  ―  Tā qì de zhí duōsuō.  ―  He continuously trembled with rage.

   直直 [Hokkien]  ―  ti̍t-ti̍t [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  continuously

9. simply; just; only

   Synonym: 只

   簡直／简直  ―  jiǎnzhí  ―  simply; utterly

   他渾身痛得直像被人揍了一頓。 [MSC, trad.]
   他浑身痛得直像被人揍了一顿。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā húnshēn tòng dé zhí xiàng bèi rén zòu le yī dùn. [Pinyin]

   His whole body hurt just like he's taken a beating.

   • 直不百步耳，是亦走也。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Zhí bù bǎi bù ěr, shì yì zǒu yě. [Pinyin]

     They just did not run a hundred paces; yet they also ran away.

10. (Hokkien) simple and frank; without scruples or misgivings (in one's temperament, speech, or actions)
11. (Hokkien) settled; clear; brought to an end

    你這條數猶未直。 [Hokkien, trad.]
    你这条数犹未直。 [Hokkien, simp.]

    Lí chit tiâu siàu iáu-bē ti̍t. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

    This account of yours hasn't been settled yet.

12. (Mainland China Hokkien) a simple kind of board game similar to Go
13. (Chinese calligraphy) vertical stroke in Chinese characters
14. (slang) straight; heterosexual

    Antonyms: 彎 / 弯 (wān), 攣 / 挛 (Cantonese)

    順直／顺直  ―  shùnzhí  ―  cishet

15. (historical) short for 直隸／直隶 (Zhílì, “Zhili”)

    直系軍閥／直系军阀  ―  Zhí xì jūnfá  ―  the Zhili faction (of the Beiyang warlords)

    直皖戰爭／直皖战争  ―  Zhí Wǎn zhànzhēng  ―  Zhili–Anhui War

16. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 值 (“to be worth”)

    • 今有布一匹，價直一百二十五。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      今有布一匹，价直一百二十五。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: 《九章算術》 (The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art), 衰分 (Proportional distribution)

      Jīn yǒu bù yī pǐ, jiàzhí yībǎi èrshíwǔ. [Pinyin]

      Now there exists one piece of cloth; its value is worth one hundred twenty-five.

17. (Cantonese, slang, figurative) dead
18. a surname

• → Old Turkic: tik (“vertical, straight, straightforward”)
  • Oghuz: دیك
    • Azerbaijani: dik
    • Turkish: dik
    • Turkmen: dik
      • Turkmen: dikan (“honest, straight, direct”)

• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A02759
• “直”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• “直”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long], 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu], 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying], 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019) “直”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 262.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. straight

• Go-on: じき (jiki, Jōyō)^{←ぢき (diki, historical)←ちき (tiki, ancient)}、じか (jika)^{←ぢか (dika, historical)}
• Kan-on: ちょく (choku, Jōyō)^{←ちよく (tyoku, historical)}
• Kun: ただちに (tadachi ni, 直ちに, Jōyō)、なおす (naosu, 直す, Jōyō)^{←なほす (nafosu, 直す, historical)}、なおる (naoru, 直る, Jōyō)^{←なほる (naforu, 直る, historical)}、あたい (atai, 直)^{←あたひ (atafi, 直, historical)}、すぐ (sugu, 直ぐ)、すぐ (sugu, 直)、なおし (naoshi, 直し)^{←なほし (nafosi, 直し, historical)}、じか (jika, 直)、ひた (hita, 直)
• Nanori: すぐ (sugu)、なおい (naoi)、のう (nō)、のお (nō)^{←のほ (nofo, historical)}

• 直(ちょっ)径(けい) (chokkei, “diameter”)
• 直(ちょっ)角(かく)三(さん)角(かっ)形(けい) (chokkaku-sankakkei, “right triangle”)
• 直(ちょく)流(りゅう) (chokuryū, “direct current”)
• 直(ちょっ)感(かん) (chokkan, “intuition”)

• (Tokyo) じき [jíꜜkì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑikʲi]

直(じき) • (jiki) ^{←ぢき (diki)?}-na (adnominal 直(じき)な (jiki na), adverbial 直(じき)に (jiki ni))

1. soon, shortly
2. nearby, close

• 直(じき)に (jiki ni)

Sound change from jiki above.^[1]

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• (Tokyo) じか [jíꜜkà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑika̠]

直(じか) • (jika-) ^{←ぢか (dika-)?}

1. directly

   Synonym: 直接 (chokusetsu)

• 直(じか)に (jika ni)

• (Tokyo) ちょく [chóꜜkù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕo̞kɯ̟]

直(ちょく) • (choku) ^{←ちよく (tyoku)?†}-tari (adnominal 直(ちょく)とした (choku to shita) or 直(ちょく)たる (choku taru), adverbial 直(ちょく)と (choku to) or 直(ちょく)として (choku to shite))

1. direct, straight, frank

直(ちょく) • (choku) ^{←ちよく (tyoku)?}-na (adnominal 直(ちょく)な (choku na), adverbial 直(ちょく)に (choku ni))

1. sincere, straightforward, proper, frank
2. simple, not extravagant, not expensive, less formal

   Synonyms: 安直 (anchoku), 手軽 (tegaru), 安価 (anka)

直(ちょく)する • (choku suru) ^{←ちよく (tyoku)?}suru (stem 直(ちょく)し (choku shi), past 直(ちょく)した (choku shita))

1. to do one's duty, be on duty

• IPA^(key): [çita̠]

直(ひた) • (hita) 

1. earnestly, eagerly
2. exactly, precisely
3. immediately, directly

• (Tokyo) ただし [táꜜdàshì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠da̠ɕi]

直(ただし) • (Tadashi) 

1. a male given name

直 (eumhun 곧을 직 (godeul jik))

1. hanja form^? of 직 (“straight”)

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

• Kun: すぐ (sugu, 直ぐ)

直: Hán Nôm readings: trực

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

• Kun: しぃぐ (sïgu, 直ぐ)

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

• Kun: ちく゚ (chingu, 直く゚)