剪刀 (jiǎn dāo) — scissors | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

剪刀 is the noun 'scissors' (counted with 把). The verb 剪 is the action of cutting with scissors or trimming — use 剪刀 for the tool, 剪 for the act.

noun

scissors

Measure word · 把

Examples

剪刀。
Tā yòng jiǎn dāo jiǎn le tóu fa.
He cut his hair with scissors.
剪刀？
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ zhǎo yí xià jiǎn dāo ma?
Can you help me look for the scissors?
剪刀。
Wǒ zài chāo shì mǎi le yì bǎ jiǎn dāo.
I bought a pair of scissors at the supermarket.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

剪 cut and 刀 blade name a cutting tool, scissors.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刀刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

歬

歬qián剪jiǎn

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

In 剪, 刀 is the knife part and 歬 gives the sound. After 前 came to replace 歬, another 刀 was added to 剪.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Miscellaneous Objects 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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