刀剑 (dāo jiàn) — bladed weapons; swords and knives

Definition

noun

bladed weaponsswords and knives

Measure word · 把

刀剑。
Tā shōu cáng le hěn duō dāo jiàn.
He collects many swords and knives.
刀剑。
Gǔ dài zhàn shì yòng dāo jiàn lái zhàn dòu.
Ancient warriors used swords and knives to fight.
刀剑。
Zhè bǎ dāo jiàn fēi cháng fēng lì.
This sword is very sharp.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

刀 (knife) and 剑 (sword) are parallel weapons, together meaning bladed weapons.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 刀 comes from a simple picture of a knife.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 劍; 剑 is its simplified writing.

僉刂劍

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刂Written in full as刀dāo

Sound part声符shēngfú

僉

僉qiān劍jiàn

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 劍 pairs 僉 as the sound part with 刂, a knife sign written as 刀, as the meaning part; the simplified 剑 is a later shorthand.