Kilo Lingo

(zǔ zhǐ) - to stop, to prevent, to block in Mandarin

zhǐ

Traditional: 阻止

Line drawing of 阻止
Coloured illustration of 阻止
HSK 5
#722 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to stop, to prevent, to block

Word origin

A two-character compound meaning to stop, prevent or block. 阻 (zǔ) means to obstruct and is a phono-semantic compound of the 阝(mound) radical with 且 (qiě) as the phonetic, suggesting a barrier of earth. 止 (zhǐ) is a pictograph of a foot that came to mean to halt; together they express blocking something in its tracks.

Origin
compound
Root
阻 (zǔ, to obstruct; 阝mound + 且 phonetic) + 止 (zhǐ, to stop)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 阻

Stroke order for 止

Examples

Please stop him from leaving.

We must prevent this from happening.

No one can stop him.

We must stop him.

Nothing can stop her from studying.

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This word is part of lesson 15.