列 (liè): to arrange; to line up

Meanings

1 to arrange; to line up
2 row; column; series
3 to list; to enumerate

Characters

列

liè

to arrange; row; column; to list

Examples

请列出你需要的东西。

Qǐng lièchū nǐ xūyào de dōngxi.

Please list the things you need.

学生们排成一列。

Xuéshēng men pái chéng yī liè.

The students lined up in a row.

Tips

usage

列 appears in many compounds: 列表 (list), 列车 (train), 排列 (arrange), 系列 (series), 列举 (enumerate). As a measure word, 一列火车 means 'a train'.

Components

radical

刂 dāo

knife (right-side form of 刀)

Right-side 刂 is the knife radical, the right-side compressed form of 刀. Here it represents the tool used to chop and arrange — to butcher and lay out parts in order, hence 'to line up, classify, list'. Same family as 别, 刚, 划, 创 — all knife-action verbs.

phonetic

歹 dǎi

bad; bone fragments

Left-side 歹 originally depicted shattered bones laid out in a row — that visual of arranged remains is what gave 列 its 'arrange in a line' meaning. It also supplies the sound (dǎi → liè, with regular onset drift). Same phonetic in 例 (example) and 烈 (intense).