斩

斬

zhǎn

verb HSK 7-9 #12,542

Meanings

1 to chop
2 to cut
3 to behead
4 to sever

Characters

斩

zhǎn

to chop; to behead

Examples

古代犯人会被斩首。

Gǔdài fànrén huì bèi zhǎnshǒu.

In ancient times, criminals would be beheaded.

我们必须斩断这个恶性循环。

Wǒmen bìxū zhǎnduàn zhège èxìngxúnhuán.

We must break this vicious cycle.

Tips

usage

斩 is literary/formal. Common compounds: 斩首 (behead), 斩断 (sever), 斩草除根 (to pull up weeds by the root — to eliminate completely). In modern Chinese, 砍 (kǎn) is used for everyday chopping.

Components

radical

斤 jīn

axe

Right 斤 — an axe with the head jutting forward and the haft below, the indexing radical. Carries the chopping action: from the original cart-tearing punishment the meaning shifted to beheading by axe, then any cutting action. 斩首 to behead, 斩断 to sever cleanly.

semantic

车 chē

cart; vehicle (here semantic)

Left cart radical (simplified 車). 斩 originally named a brutal Han-dynasty execution: a condemned criminal tied to two carts that were then driven apart, tearing the body in half. The cart on the left preserves that grisly history, even after the meaning generalised to ordinary beheading.

Stroke Order

斩 zhǎn

斩