锭 (dìng): ingot

Meanings

1 ingot
2 spindle
3 pressed cake (of medicine or ink)
4 tablet

Characters

锭

dìng

ingot; spindle; tablet

Examples

古代用金锭和银锭交易。

Gǔdài yòng jīn dìng hé yín dìng jiāoyì.

In ancient times, gold and silver ingots were used for trade.

他买了一锭墨。

Tā mǎi le yī dìng mò.

He bought a stick of ink.

Tips

usage

锭 serves as both a noun (ingot/spindle) and a measure word for ingot-shaped items: 一锭金 (one gold ingot), 一锭墨 (one ink stick).

culture

Silver ingots (银锭, especially the boat-shaped 元宝) were the primary currency of imperial China and are still burned as offerings to ancestors during funerals and Qingming Festival.

Components

radical

钅 jīn

metal; gold (radical form of 金)

Left-side metal radical — the 5-stroke compressed form of 金. Indexing radical, putting 锭 in the cast-and-forged family (银 silver, 钢 steel, 钉 nail, 链 chain). Carries the core meaning: an ingot or tablet of cast metal. Also extended to medicinal pellets and any pill-shaped lump.

phonetic

定 dìng

fixed; settle

Right 定 supplies the sound — dìng straight through, no drift. The 'fixed / settled' meaning of 定 doubles as a faint semantic hint: an ingot is metal cast into a fixed, settled shape, then weighed and used as currency. Historical usage 元宝 silver ingots were called 银锭. Same phonetic family: 锭 itself, 啶 (chemistry suffix).