械 xiè weapons
weapons; tools; instruments
怎么记住“械”: 木 tree + 戒 to warn = weapons. Behind every tree a paintball player hides, and the referee has to warn the kids to lower their weapons.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
械 = 木 tree + 戒 to warn
- 木 tree meaning
- 戒 to warn sound
Behind every tree a paintball player hides, and the referee has to warn the kids to lower their weapons.
How it came to be
Wood gives the meaning and the right part gives the sound; it first meant shackles.
用法
- Machinery/apparatus: bound in 机械 (jīxiè) machinery/mechanical and 器械 (qìxiè) instruments/apparatus.
- 机械 also means 'mechanical/rigid' figuratively: 机械地重复 (jīxiè de chóngfù) to repeat mechanically.
- 器械 covers tools/equipment: 医疗器械 medical instruments, 体育器械 gym equipment.
- Historically also 'weapons' (械斗 xièdòu, an armed brawl between groups).