残片 (cán piān) — fragment, remnant piece (especially of pottery,…

Definition

A surviving piece broken off from a larger whole — usually pottery, glass, or stone, often found in archaeological work. 比 '碎片' 更强调它原本是某件完整器物的一部分。

noun

fragmentremnant piece (especially of pottery, glass, or stone)

Measure word · 块

残片。
Kǎo gǔ xué jiā zài yí zhǐ zhōng fā xiàn le xǔ duō táo qì cán piān.
Archaeologists found many pottery fragments at the site.
残片。
Zhè xiē bō li cán piān de biān yuán hěn fēng lì.
The edges of these glass fragments are very sharp.
，残片。
Jīng guò qīng lǐ, cán piān shàng de tú àn qīng xī kě jiàn.
After cleaning, the patterns on the fragments are clearly visible.

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.

残cánremaining

The sense of 残 and 片 gives a remaining broken 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殘; 残 is its simplified writing.

歹戔殘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

歹歹dǎivicious, bones

Sound part声符shēngfú

戔

戔jiān殘cán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 殘 pairs 歹, a bone shape for injury, with 戔 for its sound; the simplified 残 is a later shorthand.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in