TongTong
Sign in

器械 (qì xiè) — equipment, apparatus, instrument; weapon

Definition

器械 leans toward specialized equipment (medical, lab, military) — more technical than the everyday 工具 and more formal/concrete than 家伙. It also covers weapons, while 武器 is the standard term for arms.

noun
equipmentapparatusinstrumentweapon
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 器械，。
    Yī yuàn lǐ yǒu hěn duō xiān jìn de qì xiè, bāng zhù yī shēng zhì liáo jí bìng.
    There are many advanced instruments in the hospital to help doctors treat diseases.
  • 器械，。
    Zhè jiā jiàn shēn fáng xīn mǎi le yì pī qì xiè, hěn shòu huān yíng.
    This gym just bought a batch of new equipment, which is very popular.
  • 器械，。
    Jǐng fāng zài àn fā xiàn chǎng fā xiàn le yí jiàn qì xiè, huái yí shì xiōng qì.
    The police found a weapon at the crime scene and suspected it was the murder weapon.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

器qìinstrument
械xièapparatus

器 and 械 together name instruments and apparatus.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
戒
戒jiè械xiè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

械 pairs 木, meaning wood, with 戒 for sound. The early sense was handcuffs or shackles, later extended to devices.

Open 械 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Miscellaneous Objects

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.