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首级 (shǒu jí) — severed head of an enemy soldier (historical); a unit of merit counted by severed heads (historical)

Definition

Historical military term for a severed enemy head, counted as proof of merit on the battlefield. The unit "颗" is used (e.g., 斩首三级).

noun
severed head of an enemy soldier (historical)a unit of merit counted by severed heads (historical)
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • ，首级。
    Zài gǔ dài zhàn zhēng zhōng, shì bīng bǎ dí rén de shǒu jí zuò wéi zhàn gōng de zhèng míng.
    In ancient wars, soldiers used enemy heads as proof of military merit.
  • 首级，。
    Tā kǎn xià le sān gè shǒu jí, yīn cǐ dé dào le shēng qiān.
    He cut off three heads and thus got a promotion.
  • 首级。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ miáo xiě le jiāng jūn shù shǒu jí de chǎng jǐng.
    The novel describes the scene of the general counting heads.

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.

首shǒuskull
级jígrade

The severed skull counted as a grade gives the historical sense.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from an old drawing of an animal's head, showing a long mouth and horns; the version with hair became 首.

Open 首 →

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 級; 级 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí級jí
Same sound today

The traditional form 級 has 糹 (thread) and 及 as a sound part; its original sense was a sequence related to silk. The simplified 级 is a later shorthand.

Open 级 →
Appears in
Body PartsMilitary & Defense

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