棋子 (qí zǐ) — chess piece; (figurative) pawn; someone manipul… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

chess piece(figurative) pawnsomeone manipulated by others

Measure word · 个, 颗

Examples

棋子。
Tā cóng dì shàng jiǎn qǐ le yì kē qí zǐ.
He picked up a chess piece from the floor.
，棋子。
Zài zhè ge jì huà lǐ, wǒ men zhǐ shì bié rén shǒu zhōng de qí zǐ.
In this plan, we are just pawns in someone else's hands.
棋子。
Yí fù xiàng qí yǒu sān shí èr gè qí zǐ.
A set of Chinese chess has thirty-two pieces.

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.

‘棋’ means chess and ‘子’ means piece, together naming a chess piece.

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.

木其棋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwooden

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí棋qí

Same sound today

棋 has 木 on the left, showing it was made of wood, and 其 on the right gives the sound.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Games & Puzzles

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