What is 一?

一 (Yī) - One

一 (yī) is the Chinese character for the number one. It's also a radical. The character is simply a horizontal line.

Beyond its basic numerical meaning, 一 can also represent:

• The first, beginning, or start.
• Unity or wholeness.
• The entire or whole thing.
• Same or uniform.
• In classical Chinese, it sometimes functions as a grammatical particle with various meanings.

In compound words, 一 appears frequently and contributes to many different meanings depending on the other characters it's combined with. For example, it can be found in words related to "once," "together," or "always." The simplicity of the character makes it very easy to write and recognize.