铣

銑
xǐ
verb #85,031

Meanings

  1. 1 to mill (machining); to machine with a rotating cutter
  2. 2 shining metal

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zhège língjiàn děi yòng jīqì xǐ píng.
This part has to be milled flat by machine.

Tips

usage
In modern Chinese 铣 is a technical machining term, 铣床 (milling machine), 铣刀 (milling cutter). It rarely stands alone outside the workshop.
history
An older reading 铣 meant 'shining metal', and in telegrams it once stood for the 16th of the month, both senses are now obsolete. The phonetic 先 also drives 洗 and 跣.

Components

radical
钅 jīn
metal; gold
钅 is the metal radical 金 in its left-side form, marking this as a metal-related word, fitting both 'shining metal' and machine-cutting metal.
phonetic
先 xiān
first; earlier
先 gives the sound (xiān drifted to xǐ / xiǎn). The same phonetic appears in 洗 (to wash) and 选 (to choose).

Stroke Order

铣 xǐ