胫 (jìng): shin

Meanings

1 shin
2 lower leg (between knee and ankle)

Characters

胫

jìng

shin

Examples

他在足球比赛中胫骨受伤了。

Tā zài zúqiú bǐsài zhōng jìnggǔ shòushāng le.

He injured his shin bone during the football match.

消息不胫而走。

Xiāoxi bùjìng'érzǒu.

The news spread like wildfire. (lit. ran without legs)

Tips

history

Classical anatomy term: 膝上曰股，膝下曰胫 'above the knee is called gǔ (thigh), below is called jìng (shin)' — recorded by Huang Kan in his commentary on the Analects. Lives on in 胫骨 'tibia / shin bone' and the chengyu 不胫而走 'spread without needing legs'.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

meat; flesh (radical form)

Left meat-flesh radical — visually identical to 月 (moon) but a different component, the side-form of 肉 used for body parts. Indexes 胫 in the anatomy family with 脚 foot, 腿 leg, 膝 knee, 腰 waist. Anchors the meaning: the shin is the front bone of the lower leg.

phonetic

巠 jīng

underground stream; warp (phonetic)

Right 巠 in its 5-stroke contracted form — the standalone is 7 strokes; here it's compressed to fit the right slot. Supplies the sound jīng → jìng with tone shift only. Same phonetic family: 颈 neck, 径 path, 劲 strength, 经 to pass through. The original sense 'straight underground channel' loosely echoes the long, straight shinbone.