歼 jiān to annihilate
to annihilate; to kill off; to wipe out
How to remember 歼: 歹 wicked + 千 thousand = to annihilate. Next to the picnic basket, Mum finds one thousand wicked ants stealing the chicken, and grabs the spray to annihilate the whole army.
Component breakdown
形声 · Meaning + sound
originally 歹 + 韱
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
歼 = 歹 wicked + 千 thousand
- 歹 wicked meaning
- 千 thousand shape only
- ㇒ falling stroke
- 十 ten
Next to the picnic basket, Mum finds one thousand wicked ants stealing the chicken, and grabs the spray to annihilate the whole army.
How it came to be
The left part gives the meaning; the short form writes the sign for thousand where the full form had a longer sound part.
How it is used
- To annihilate/wipe out an enemy force: 歼灭 (jiānmiè) to destroy utterly, 全歼 (quánjiān) to wipe out completely.
- Military register; also names the J-series fighter jets (歼-20). Not for casual 'destroy'.