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典

diǎn
noun #7,553

Meanings

  1. 1 canon; standard; classic work
  2. 2 dictionary; reference book
  3. 3 ceremony; celebration

Examples

我买了一本词典。
Wǒ mǎi le yīběn cídiǎn.
I bought a dictionary.
这是一部经典电影。
Zhè shì yī bù jīngdiǎn diànyǐng.
This is a classic movie.
毕业典礼很隆重。
Bìyè diǎnlǐ hěn lóngzhòng.
The graduation ceremony was grand.

Tips

usage
典 is used in: 词典/字典 (dictionary), 经典 (classic), 典礼 (ceremony), 典型 (typical), 古典 (classical). It conveys authority, tradition, and formality.

Components

radical
八 bā
eight; two divided (radical)
The two strokes at the bottom are the indexing radical 八 — historically a pair of hands holding the bound tablets up reverentially, then stylised into the eight-radical for filing purposes. The indexing role explains why 典 (a book) ended up under 八 instead of 曰 or 册.
semantic
曲 qū
bamboo tablets (here semantic)
The top is a stylised picture of bamboo slips bound together — a classical book before paper. Although the modern glyph looks like 曲 (bent), it descends from a pictograph of strapped tablets. This makes 典 inherently a book-character: a canonical text, the kind worth preserving.

Stroke Order

典 diǎn