but; yet; however; still / merely; only; just

to be (followed by substantives only) / correct; right; true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)

ability; talent / sb of a certain type / a capable individual / then and only then / just now / (before an expression of quantity) only

not just; not limited to / (as a correlative conjunction) not only (..., but also ...)

only / merely / no more than / but / however / anyway (to get back to a previous topic) / cannot be more (after adjectival)

light; ray (CL:道) / bright; shiny / only; merely / used up; finished / to leave (a part of the body) uncovered

barely / only / merely / only (this and nothing more)

merely; only; just; nothing but / simply / but; however

exactly; precisely / only; simply; just / (used correlatively with 也) even; even if

(after a suppositional clause) in that case; then / (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after / (same as 就是) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly / only; as little as / as much as; as many as / to approach; to move towards / to undertake; to engage in / (often followed by 著｜着) taking advantage of / (of food) to go with / with regard to; concerning / (pattern: 就 ... 也 ...) even if ... still ... / (pattern: 不 ... 就 ...) if not ... then must be ...

(not only ...) but also / moreover / in addition / furthermore

barely / only / merely

can only / obliged to do sth / to have no other choice

(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth") / (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed / (old) residence of a high official / (literary) but; however / (literary) only; just

square / power or involution (math.) / upright / honest / fair and square / direction / side / party (to a contract, dispute etc) / place / method / prescription (medicine) / just when / only or just / classifier for square things / abbr. for square or cubic meter

only; merely; nothing but; no more than / it's just that ...

only; sole

not only (... but also ...)

only; merely; just

only have ...; there is only ... / (used in combination with 才) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通過治療才能痊愈｜只有通过治疗才能痊愈 "the only way to cure it is with therapy") / it is only (someone) who ... (as in 只有男性才有此需要 "only men would have such a requirement") / (used to express lack of alternatives) can only; have no choice but to (as in 只有屈服 "the only thing you can do is give in")

not the only one / not only

single / only / sole

four grandparents, two parents and an only child

only natural / as it should be / certainly / of course / without doubt

only / alone / -ism (in Chinese, a prefix, often combined with a suffix such as 主義｜主义 or 論｜论, e.g. 唯理論｜唯理论, rationalism)

bill / list / form / single / only / sole / odd number / CL: 個｜个

(slang) (online gaming) to team up with friends in a coordinated private group (黑 indicates private, team-only chat)

hideaway; private or insider-only place

not only; not just

clean / completely / only / net (income, exports etc) / (Chinese opera) painted face male role

to be / thus / so / therefore / then / only / thereupon

not just in name only, but also in reality (idiom) / aptly named / worthy of the name

second only to ...; ranking behind only ...

to decorate / to adorn / sprinkled / studded / only for show

lit. not requiring a detailed understanding (idiom); only looking for an overview / not bothered with the details / superficial / content with shallow understanding

China UnionPay (CUP), China's only domestic bank card organization

only if (..., or otherwise, ...) / only when / only in the case that / unless

to open (a new road or railway line); to set up (a hotline); to launch (a service); to subscribe to (a members-only service)

(variant of 才) just now / (variant of 才) (before an expression of quantity) only

to focus solely on; to pay attention only to; to be preoccupied with

a modal particle indicating (that's all, only, nothing much)

only the official is allowed to light the fire / Gods may do what cattle may not / quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi

world with only two people (usually refers to a romantic couple) / romantic couple's world

Appetite and lust are only natural (Mencius 6A:4). / By nature we desire food and sex.

collision in which only one party is at fault

not only / not merely

only when absolutely essential (idiom); as a last resort

if only (sth were possible) / I wish (that)

human nature (idiom) / a behavior that is only natural

lit. to sharpen one's spear only before going into battle (idiom) / fig. to make preparations only at the last moment

(bound form) disciple; apprentice; believer; (derog.) wrongdoer (as in 騙徒｜骗徒 "swindler" or 叛徒 "traitor" etc) / (bound form) on foot / (bound form) bare; empty / (bound form) to no avail; in vain / (bound form) merely; just; only / (bound form) prison sentence

logical / only to be expected / rational and clearly structured (of text)

one able to do light manual labor only / semi-able-bodied or part time (farm) worker

when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction (idiom)

to embezzle by adding to the payroll employees existing in name only

only / nothing else

half a life / only half alive / barely alive / (scared, beaten etc) half to death

not the only / not merely / not simply

only / just (i.e. it is only that...) / all except / unique

virtually the same / differing only on small points

for reference only

only child / sole scion

lit. you can't gain knowledge without practical experience (idiom) / fig. wisdom only comes with experience

child emperor / (fig.) spoiled child / spoiled boy / pampered only child

drizzle; light rain / (fig.) mere trifle; sth that has only a weak effect

if only it were so / I hope so (idiom)

(idiom) to mention only very briefly; to skate over (a topic)

the river flows thirty years to the East, thirty years to the West (proverb) / change is the only constant

lit. everything is ready, all we need is an east wind (idiom) / fig. lacking only one tiny crucial item

an only child

-ism / only

for reference only

may be done once and once only; just this once

lit. only one branch of the tree is thriving (idiom) / fig. to be in a league of one's own / outstanding

sb with only rudimentary skills (in a particular area)

the Legalist school of political philosophy, which rose to prominence in the Warring States period (475–221 BC) (The Legalists believed that social harmony could only be attained through strong state control, and advocated for a system of rigidly applied punishments and rewards for specific behaviors.) / a Legalist

to fight for fame, grab profit (idiom); scrambling for fame and wealth / only interested in personal gain

(indicating that sth turns out just the opposite of what one would wish) unfortunately; as it happened / (indicating that sth is the opposite of what would be normal or reasonable) stubbornly; contrarily; against reason / (indicating that sb or a group is singled out) precisely; only; of all people

steaming hot / (fig.) bustling / hectic / (fig.) excited / stirred up / (fig.) created only a short time before / freshly minted / hot off the press / (coll.) also pr. [re4 teng1 teng1]

practice of allowing only one child per family

the only (choice, way etc) / undivided (loyalty)

to stop / to prohibit / until / only

the one and only way / the only proper course to take

Fall into the moat and you'll be wiser next time (idiom); One only learns from one's mistakes.

different broth but the same old medicine (idiom); a change in name only / a change in form but not in substance

lit. don't worry about not knowing goods, but about comparing them (proverb) / fig. goods' (or person's) true value can only be determined through comparison

don't insist on only taking one road to Rome (idiom) / there's more than one way to skin a cat

not alone but in pairs (idiom, usually derog.); not a unique occurrence / it's not the only case

walking corpse (idiom) / zombie / person who lives only on the material level

alone / independent / single / sole / only

to exist in name only / empty shell / useless (idiom)

(of an outcome) to rely on / to require / can only be achieved by means of

restricted document, available only to certain individuals such as high-ranking Party officials (abbr. for 內部參考｜内部参考) / (literary) palace eunuch

a daughter who is an only child

1992 Consensus, statement issued after 1992 talks between PRC and Taiwan representatives, asserting that there is only one China

(proverb) constantly comparing oneself to others only leads to dissatisfaction and envy

lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom) / fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off / to go for wool and come back shorn

to treat only the symptoms but not the root cause

lit. drinking poison in the hope of quenching one's thirst (idiom) / fig. a supposed remedy that only makes matters worse

(separated only by) a narrow strip of water