匣 (xiá): small box

Measure Word

一个匣子 gè

Meanings

1 small box
2 case
3 casket

Characters

匣

xiá

box; casket (single character)

Examples

她把珠宝放在一个精美的匣子里。

Tā bǎ zhūbǎo fàngzài yīgè jīngměi de xiá zi lǐ.

She put the jewelry in an exquisite little box.

古代皇帝用金匣保存重要文件。

Gǔdài huángdì yòng jīn xiá bǎocún zhòngyào wénjiàn.

Ancient emperors used gold caskets to preserve important documents.

Tips

memory

匣 looks like something enclosed (匚 = open box radical) with a 甲 inside — a shell or box containing something.

Components

radical

匚 fāng

open container; receptacle

Outer container 匚 — Kangxi #22, an open-sided box turned on its side. The indexing radical, drawn as the top-left vertical and the closing bottom-right stroke. Anchors 匣 in the container family with 匠 (artisan in a workshop), 区 (zone), 匿 (hide inside). Specifically a small box that snaps shut, like a jewellery case (盒子).

phonetic

甲 jiǎ

first; armour; shell (here phonetic)

Inner 甲 supplies the sound — jiǎ shifting to xiá through historical j/x palatal alternation. 甲 itself depicts a tortoise's plated shell, which is also a hard protective box — faint semantic echo. Same phonetic feeds 押 (deposit, locked away), 闸 (sluice gate), 鸭 (duck — borrowed sound only).