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积木 (jī mù) — (v.o., rare) to stack/pile wood; (noun, common) building blocks, toy bricks

Definition

Today 积木 almost always means the noun 'building blocks / toy bricks' (搭积木 = to play with blocks). The literal sense 'stacked/piled wood' is archaic and effectively unused in modern Chinese.

verb
(v.o., rare) to stack/pile wood(noun, common) building blockstoy bricks

Examples

  • 积木。
    Xiǎo péng yǒu zài dā jī mù.
    The children are playing with building blocks.
  • 积木。
    Tā yòng jī mù dā le yí zuò fáng zi.
    He built a house with blocks.
  • 积木，。
    Zhè xiē jī mù wǔ yán liù sè, hěn piào liang.
    These blocks are colorful and beautiful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

积jīpile/stack
木mùwood

积 means pile or stack, and 木 means wood; together they name blocks made of stacked wooden pieces.

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 積; 积 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé積jī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 積 pairs 禾 (grain) with 責, which gives the sound; the simplified 积 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 积 →

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

Open 木 →
Appears in
Games & Puzzles

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