The kanji 紀 primarily conveys the idea of "record," "chronicle," or "history." It often refers to a written account of events, particularly in a chronological order. It can also imply a rule, a discipline, or a standard.

・On-yomi (音読み): キ (ki) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): とし (toshi) - as in 世紀 (seiki) - "century," where 紀 represents "period" or "era".

⚫︎紀元前 Translation: B.C. (Before Christ/Common Era) ⚫︎世紀 Translation: Century ⚫︎日本紀 Translation: Chronicles of Japan (name of a historical text)

The kanji 紀 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The semantic component is 糸 (ito, "silk thread") and the phonetic component is 己 (on reading: ki, meaning "self"). The original meaning may have related to the act of recording or measuring using knots tied on a silk thread, and, eventually, evolved to mean "record" or "chronicle". The silk thread likely symbolized the means to "bind" or "record" the passing of time or events.