jiǎn
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 an ancient four-edged metal truncheon (a weapon)

Examples

Jiāngjūn shǐ yí duì tiě jiǎn.
The general wielded a pair of iron truncheons.
Xìqǔ lǐ jiǎn cháng zuòwéi yīngxióng de bīngqì.
In opera, the iron truncheon often appears as a hero's weapon.

Tips

history
An old close-combat weapon: a hard four-sided metal rod, like a heavy whip without a blade. A separate reading jiàn refers to an iron sleeve fitted on a cart axle to reduce friction.

Components

radical
jīn
metal
The metal radical (left-side form of ) makes the sense clear: is a solid metal weapon, hence the gold/metal indexing radical.
phonetic
jiān
between; space
Supplies the reading, close to jiǎn; it serves purely as the sound element with no link to the weapon's meaning.

Stroke Order

jiǎn