jiàn
noun #4,742

Meanings

  1. 1 warship; naval vessel

Examples

HSK 2
Jiànduì chūfā le.
The fleet has set out.
HSK 7-9
Jūnjiàn shǐguò dàhǎi.
The warship sailed across the sea.

Tips

usage
军舰 (warship), 舰队 (fleet), 航空母舰 (aircraft carrier).

Components

radical
zhōu
boat; vessel
Boat radical on the left - pictograph of a small dugout canoe with a bench and prow. Indexes in the watercraft family with ship, to sail, launch. The radical is the literal subject: a is a particular kind of boat - an armoured warship - and anchors that meaning.
phonetic
jiàn
to see
Right side supplies the sound (jiàn → jiàn, exact match). also adds a distant flavour of 'observation, watching from a distance' that suits a warship on patrol. Replaces traditional in the right slot during simplification - a streamlined modern phonetic carrying the same reading.

Stroke Order

jiàn