zi

Zi is a transliteration that appears in many contexts, most notably as a Mandarin Chinese syllable rendered in pinyin as zi. The combination zi can map to several different Chinese characters, each with its own meaning and tone. Because pinyin omits tone marks in plain text, zi by itself is ambiguous without context, representing one of multiple possible syllables such as zī, zǐ, or zì.

In Chinese philosophy and history, zi is commonly used as an honorific suffix meaning “Master” and appears in the names of renowned sages, such as Kongzi (Confucius) and Laozi (Lao Tzu). In this classical usage, zi denotes respect and authority, rather than a standalone word with a single fixed translation.

In modern usage, zi occurs in many common words and names. For example, 字 (zì) means character or script; 子 (zǐ) means son or child and also serves as a suffix in various terms; 自 (zì) means self. Other characters read zi include 紫 (zǐ, purple) and 滋 (zī, to nourish), among many others. The exact meaning of zi depends on the character chosen and its tone.

Zi is also a frequent element in Chinese given names, where it may be used alone or combined with other syllables to convey particular qualities or wishes. Outside of Mandarin, zi can appear in transliterations of Chinese names or terms, though readings in other languages may differ (for example, ji or shi in Japanese readings of similar characters).

See also: pinyin, Chinese characters, Chinese honorifics.