Example sentences
yì一qǐ起zǒu走ba吧。
Let's go together.
wǒ我men们yì一qǐ起。
Together.
About this word
一 is one, 起 is to rise or to begin, as in 起床 and 起立. The compound names a single starting point shared by several people, and from that comes together. It is the everyday word for doing something in company (我们一起吃饭), and it also covers going along (我跟你一起去 means I will go with you). Position matters: 一起 goes after the subject and before the verb, so 我们一起去 is right and 去一起 is not. It is about company, so use 同时 for things happening at the same clock time.
The story behind the character
一
One horizontal stroke, the simplest character there is. Yet Xu Shen loaded it with the heaviest meaning: 一, 惟初太始: "one, the very beginning, where the Way is set and heaven and earth divide." One stroke, holding up the whole start of the universe. That might be the most weight a single line has ever carried.
起
起 is 走, a person moving, with 己 for the sound. Xu Shen wrote 起, 能立也: the ability to stand up, before any walking happens. From standing up it spread to starting, rising, getting out of bed. 起床 is rise from bed, and 一起 uses the same character for doing something alongside someone.