洁 (jié) — clean (bound morpheme, used in compounds)
Definition
洁 (jié) is a bound morpheme meaning 'clean' — it doesn't stand alone and only appears in compounds like 清洁, 整洁, and 洁白.
bound form
clean (bound morpheme, used in compounds)
Easily confused
- 浩hàolook-alike(literary) vast, immense (of water, space, or scale)
- 节jiésound-alike(classifier) for segments of connected things: lessons, train cars, sections
- 桔jiélook-aliketangerine, mandarin orange (variant of 橘)
- 杰jiésound-alike(bound form) outstanding, prominent
- 结jiélook-alike(noun) knot
- 劫jiésound-aliketo rob; to plunder; to seize by force
Examples
- 。Bǎo chí qīng jié hěn zhòng yào.Keeping clean is very important.
- 。Tā de hūn shā jié bái rú xuě.Her wedding dress is as white as snow.
- 。Zhè ge fáng jiān fēi cháng zhěng jié.This room is very tidy.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 潔; 洁 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
絜
絜jié潔jié
Same sound today
The traditional form 潔 pairs 氵, a water part, with 絜, which gives the sound; the simplified 洁 is a later abbreviation.
Appears in
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