藉 (jiè): to rely on; to make use of; by…

Meanings

1 to rely on; to make use of; by means of
2 variant of 借 (to borrow; to lend)

Characters

藉

jiè

to rely on; to make use of

Examples

他藉此机会表达了感谢。

Tā jiè cǐ jīhuì biǎodá le gǎnxiè.

He took this opportunity to express his gratitude.

藉着月光，他看清了前方的路。

Jiè zhe yuèguāng, tā kàn qīng le qiánfāng de lù.

By the moonlight, he could see the road ahead clearly.

Tips

usage

藉 is largely interchangeable with 借 in the meaning of 'by means of' (藉此 = 借此). In modern simplified Chinese, 借 is preferred. 藉 also appears in 慰藉 ('consolation') and 狼藉 ('in a mess').

mistakes

藉 has two readings: jiè (to rely on, variant of 借) and jí (as in 狼藉, 'in a mess'). Don't mix them up.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Top three-stroke grass radical - the indexing radical. Original meaning of 藉 was 'a mat of straw spread on the ground to sit or kneel on for a ceremony,' which is how the grass shows up. From 'mat to lean on' came 'to rely on, to use as support,' the modern senses.

phonetic

耤 jí

to plough; borrow

Bottom 14 strokes form 耤 - itself 耒 (plough) + 昔 (ancient). Supplies the sound jí, which drifted to jiè. Same phonetic core appears in the simpler twin 借 (to borrow) and in 籍 (register, records) - all variations on the idea of leaning on something already laid down.