轼 (shì) — handrail at the front of a carriage/chariot (in ancient China)
Definition
轼 is a literary/bound term for the front handrail of an ancient Chinese carriage — a decorative crossbar the driver could lean on or hold.
bound form
handrail at the front of a carriage/chariot (in ancient China)
Easily confused
- 拭shìlook-aliketo wipe (literary; bound form, used in compounds)
- 是shìsound-aliketo be (linking verb, followed by a noun or noun phrase)
- 试shìlook-aliketo try; to test
- 事shìsound-alikething; matter; affair
- 弑shìlook-aliketo murder (one's superior or parent); regicide, patricide
- 室shìsound-alikeroom (often as a suffix in compound words)
Examples
- 轼。Gǔ dài mǎ chē qián bù de fú shǒu jiào zuò chē shì.The handrail at the front of an ancient carriage is called the cheshi.
- 轼，。Tā kào zhe chē shì tiào wàng, yuǎn chù de shān luán rú huà juàn bān zhǎn kāi.He leaned against the carriage handrail and looked into the distance, the faraway mountains unfolding like a painting.
- 《》轼。《Lún yǔ》 zhōng jì zǎi le kǒng zǐ kào zhe chē shì tàn xī de gù shi.The Analects record the story of Confucius leaning on the carriage handrail and sighing.
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 軾; 轼 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcart
The traditional form 軾 combines 車 (cart) with 式, which gives the sound; the simplified 轼 is a later shorthand.
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