箭 (jiàn): arrow

Measure Word

一支箭 zhī

Meanings

1 arrow
2 arrow-shaped thing

Examples

他射出了一支箭。

Tā shè chū le yī zhī jiàn.

He shot an arrow.

弓箭是古代的武器。

Gōngjiàn shì gǔdài de wǔqì.

The bow and arrow is an ancient weapon.

一箭双雕。

Yījiànshuāngdiāo.

Kill two birds with one stone (lit. one arrow, two eagles).

光阴似箭。

Guāngyīnsìjiàn.

Time flies like an arrow.

Tips

memory

竹 (bamboo) on top + 前 (front) on bottom — an arrow is a bamboo shaft that flies forward.

usage

Common idioms: 一箭双雕 (one arrow, two eagles = kill two birds with one stone), 光阴似箭 (time flies like an arrow).

Components

radical

⺮ zhú

bamboo (top form of 竹)

Top ⺮ is the bamboo cap, the squashed top form of 竹. Indexing radical and direct meaning-cue: arrows in ancient China were bamboo shafts. The cap visually places the arrow's material at the top of the char. Same cap on 笑, 答, 等, 笔.

phonetic

前 qián

front; forward

Bottom 前 supplies the sound (qián → jiàn, with palatal shift) and adds strong semantic flavour — an arrow flies forward (前). So 箭 reads almost as a perfect compound ideograph: bamboo (material) on top, forward (direction) below. Same phonetic appears in 剪 (jiǎn, scissors) preserving a related reading.