镰刀 (lián dāo) — sickle | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sickle

Measure word · 把

Examples

镰刀。
Nóng mín yòng lián dāo shōu gē mài zi.
Farmers use a sickle to harvest wheat.
镰刀，。
Zhè bǎ lián dāo yǐ jīng hěn jiù le, gāi huàn yì bǎ xīn de le.
This sickle is already very old; it’s time to replace it with a new one.
镰刀。
Bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn shì le yì bǎ gǔ dài de lián dāo.
The museum displayed an ancient sickle.

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.

镰 refers to a curved cutting tool and 刀 to a blade, so 镰刀 names a sickle.

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 鐮; 镰 is its simplified writing.

金廉鐮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīngold; metal

Sound part声符shēngfú

廉

廉lián鐮lián

Same sound today

The traditional form 鐮 pairs 金 (metal) with 廉 to show the pronunciation; the simplified 镰 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not 廉.

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

The shape of 刀 comes from a simple picture of a knife.

Appears in

Agriculture & Farming

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