chì
only
Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 帝 represents the sound. Original meaning unclear.
Evolution
Bronze script
Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
chì
only, merely; just like; stop at; only (classical, usually follows negative or question words); (not) just
Sources