十二支

shí'èrzhī
  1. a gambling game, commonly referred to as "chap ji kee" in English sources, which used the 12 cards of the 四色牌 (sìsèpái) (four colour cards) deck, each of which has a different character drawn from those used in Chinese chess (象棋 (xiàngqí))
  2. the twelve earthly branches, namely 子 (zǐ), 丑 (chǒu), 寅 (yín), 卯 (mǎo), 辰 (chén), 巳 (sì), 午 (wǔ), 未 (wèi), 申 (shēn), 酉 (yǒu), 戌 (xū), 亥 (hài) (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)

Wiktionary

Homographs

十二支 shíèrzhī the 12 earthly branches 子 zǐ, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥 (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)

Entry Composition

=1 十二 shíèr
  1. twelve
  2. 12
=1 十二 shí'èr twelve; 12
=2 支 Zhī surname Zhi
=2 支 zhī
  1. to support
  2. to sustain
  3. to erect
  4. to raise
  5. branch
  6. division
  7. to draw money
  8. classifier for rods such as pens and guns, for army divisions and for songs or compositions