刀 dāo — knife, blade; a sword

Pinyin

• dāo (first tone, high and level)

knife, blade; a sword

Character breakdown

• 刀shape partA single pictograph: the curved back of a blade with the handle below it.

Mnemonic

A knife in profile: the curved back of the blade above, the handle hanging below. On the right of a character it straightens into 刂 — 到, 别, 前 — and underneath one it keeps its shape, as in 分, where the knife does the dividing. Compare it stroke for stroke with 力: in 力 the falling stroke starts above the horizontal and cuts through it, in 刀 it starts at the left end and falls away without crossing.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 刀

No published word on HSK Guide uses this character yet. Search the dictionary.

Radical 刀 — other characters

• 到dào (fourth tone, falling)to arrive, to reach, to get to; to go to; up to, until; (as a verb complement) successfully
• 分fēn (first tone, high and level) fèn (fourth tone, falling)to divide, to separate; a minute; a fraction, a mark out of a hundred; a cent; (fèn) a share, a part, a component