斧

fǔ
noun #13,186

Measure Word

一把斧 bǎ

Meanings

  1. 1 axe
  2. 2 hatchet

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā yòng fǔtou pī chái.
He chops firewood with an axe.

Tips

usage
As a standalone character 斧 is literary. In everyday speech, 斧头 or 斧子 is more common.

Components

radical
斤 jīn
axe; weight unit (catty)
Bottom 斤 - pictograph of an axe-head on a handle, later borrowed for the weight unit (one catty, about 500g). The indexing radical, putting 斧 firmly in the chopping-tool family with 斩, 斫, 断. Father + axe gives the literal "patriarch's axe" - the household chopping tool.
phonetic
父 fù
father
Top 父 supplies the sound - fù drifting to fǔ with a tone shift. 父 itself depicts a hand holding a stone axe - the patriarch wielding a tool - so it also carries a faint semantic memory of the axe meaning. Same phonetic appears in 釜 cauldron.

Stroke Order

斧 fǔ