jīn
noun #11,524

Meanings

  1. 1 ford
  2. 2 ferry crossing
  3. 3 saliva
  4. 4 abbr. for Tianjin

Examples

Tiānjīn shì Zhōngguó de zhíxiáshì zhīyī.
Tianjin is one of China's municipalities.
Zhège gùshi lìngrén jīnjīnyǒuwèi.
This story is fascinating.

Tips

usage
Most commonly seen as an abbreviation for 天津 (Tiānjīn). Also appears in the idiom 津津有味 (with great interest/relish).
history
Originally meant a river ford or ferry crossing point. 天津 literally means 'heavenly ford' — the spot where the emperor crossed the river.

Components

radical
shuǐ
water (radical form of 水)
Three-drops water radical — the indexing element. Original sense was 'ford or river crossing,' the shallow spot for wading or ferrying across. From there: 'place where water meets land' (天津 'heavenly ford') and the metaphorical 'saliva, body fluids' ( saliva, to secrete saliva). Family: , .
phonetic
writing brush (here phonetic)
Right supplies the sound, drifting yù → jīn through significant historical shift. itself pictures a hand holding a brush, the ancestor of . Pure phonetic, faint flavour: split bristles touching paper resemble a foot poised at the river's edge. Family: , , — all built on this brush-stroke etymology.

In Pop Culture

天津 Tiānjīn
Tianjin
major city — name means 'heavenly ford'

Stroke Order

jīn