Characters › 刀
A way to remember it
A knife: a blade with a handle bent over at the top. Squashed to the right of another character it becomes 刂 — which is why 分, 切 and 别 are all about cutting things apart.
A picture that makes the shape stick — not a claim about the character’s history.
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knife
dāo — knife
Radical 刀 · 2 strokes · HSK 3
A way to remember itA knife: a blade with a handle bent over at the top. Squashed to the right of another character it becomes 刂 — which is why 分, 切 and 别 are all about cutting things apart.