Zi:之

之 [zhī] X’s (possessive marker, like 的 de); (古) (代词) he/she/it, his/her/its; (HDZ:) 往, 到…去; 至, 直到; 為…; (姓) [zhū] 諸 [zhì] 志

One monosyllabic entry in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

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The Shuōwén Seal form of 之(𡳿㞢) zhī ‘go out/forth’ is said to combine 屮 chè ‘sprout/branches’, with a horizontal line below representing the ‘surface of the earth’; 屮 here is as in as in the top of 木 mù ‘tree’ (only the top is shown, because that is the part of the tree/plant which emerges, goes forth).
    Note: 之(𡳿) is an old sub-comp. of 往; the semantic difference between these is discussed under 适/適(𨗁) shì, SW syn. 之 (DYC).
    Note: The old meaning of 之(𡳿) zhī ‘go out/forth’ suggests its use as the top component in 先 xiān (前进 ‘advance/proceed’); usages of 之 for the genitive/attributive marker ‘of/from’ derive from this (one ‘going out/forth from’ a place is ‘of/from’ that place); cf. 所之 the place which one has left (所去的地方).
    Older graphs associated with 之 are said to have 止 zhǐ ‘foot’ instead of 屮; the heel is on the ground, the toes are raised up, as in striding forth.
    Note: It might seem strange that the radical of 之 (3 strokes) is 丿 piě (radical #4), since 丿 is not one of the three strokes of 之; but the 2nd stroke ㇇ (橫撇 héngpiě) is a kind of 丿 piě; and note also the 1st and 3rd strokes of the old variant 𠔇 (p,n,p,s,tpn), and the 1st stroke (p) of 𠂒(𡳿㞢) as in 先; in Kangxi the total stroke count of 之 (4 strokes) is counted as if the first component were 亠 (2 strokes), with the third stroke segment 丿 (p) of ㇇ (hp) identified with the radical (cf. 之󰀁⿳亠丿乀).
    Compare: 生(𤯓), 先, 事, 寺, 詩(𧥳), 志(𢗍), 時(旹), 𡴊, 㞷, 𡴍.
    HDZ: 之 : zhī : (甲) 从止从一, 人所之也; 往, 到…去; 至, 直到; 為 (作; 是); 有; 用; 出; (代词) (他/她; …; 其, 他的; 这个, 那个; 焉); (副词) (已经; 则, 就); (连词) (与, 及; 若; …); (介词) 於; (助词) (的; …); 諸 (zhū); 志 (zhì); (姓)
►components: 丶㇇乀亠丿
 ►references: Guǎngyùn:058.42; Wieger:79b; Karlgren:AD1210,GSR962a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.43.1; Mathews:935; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:82.04; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:004.0.04; Wáng(1993):23; EDOC:1
►Cantonese: ji\
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Unicode: U+4E4B
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