纤 xiān fine
fine; delicate
怎么记住“纤”: 纟 silk + 千 thousand = fine. The bride's veil is sewn from silk so thin that one thousand strands fit in a straw, and everyone says it looks fine.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
originally 糸 + 韱
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
纤 = 纟 silk + 千 thousand
- 纟 silk meaning
- 千 thousand shape only
- ㇒ falling stroke
- 十 ten
The bride's veil is sewn from silk so thin that one thousand strands fit in a straw, and everyone says it looks fine.
How it came to be
Silk gives the meaning; the short form writes the sign for thousand where the full form had a longer sound part.
用法
- Fine/slender/delicate: 纤维 (xiānwéi) fiber, 纤细 (xiānxì) slender/delicate, 纤巧 (xiānqiǎo) dainty.
- 纤尘不染 (xiānchén-bùrǎn) means spotlessly clean. Note: read qiàn it means a tow-rope (纤夫 qiànfū, a boat-hauler).