权杖 (quán zhàng) — staff of authority (as carried by political or…

Definition

noun

staff of authority (as carried by political or religious leaders)mace

Measure word · 把

Examples

权杖，。
Guó wáng zài yí shì shàng shǒu chí quán zhàng, xiǎn de fēi cháng wēi yán.
The king held the scepter at the ceremony, looking very majestic.
，权杖。
Zài zōng jiào yí shì zhōng, lǐng xiù jǔ qǐ quán zhàng wèi rén men zhù fú.
In the religious ceremony, the leader raised the staff of authority to bless the people.
权杖，。
Bó wù guǎn de zhǎn lǎn zhōng yǒu yì gēn gǔ dài quán zhàng, shàng miàn kè yǒu jīng měi de tú àn.
In the museum's exhibition, there is an ancient mace with exquisite patterns carved on it.

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.

权quánauthority

杖zhàngstaff

权 names authority and 杖 is a staff, so it denotes a ceremonial staff of power.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 權; 权 is its simplified writing.

木雚權

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

雚

雚guàn權quán

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

The traditional form 權 shows 木, a tree, with 雚 giving the sound; it named a kind of tree and was used for a standard weight. The simplified 权 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 权 →

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

木丈杖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mù

Sound part声符shēngfú

丈

丈zhàng杖zhàng

Same sound today

杖 is built from 木, the wood part, plus 丈, which gives the sound.

Open 杖 →

Appears in