剪子

jiǎn zi

scissors; shears; clippers

HSK Level 5

Example Sentences

我需要一把剪子来剪纸。

wǒ xūyào yī bǎ jiǎnzi lái jiǎn zhǐ.

I need a pair of scissors to cut the paper.

剪子放在桌子上了。

jiǎnzi fàngzài zhuōzi shàngle.

The scissors are on the table.

你能帮我找一把剪子吗?

nǐ néng bāng wǒ zhǎo yī bǎ jiǎnzi ma?

Can you help me find a pair of scissors?

Synonyms

剪刀 (jiǎndāo)

scissors

铰剪 (jiǎojiǎn)

shears

Antonyms

(dāo)

knife

剪刀 (jiǎndāo)

scissors

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Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 剪子 (jiǎnzi) for "scissors" has an interesting etymology. It is composed of two characters: 剪 (jiǎn), which means "to cut", and 子 (zi), which is a suffix indicating a tool or instrument. The character 剪 is derived from the oracle bone script, which depicts a hand holding a pair of scissors. The character 子 is added to indicate that the tool is used for cutting.The word 剪子 has been used in Chinese for centuries. It is first recorded in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) in the book "Shuowen Jiezi", which is the first Chinese dictionary. The word is also found in many other ancient Chinese texts, such as the "Book of Songs" and the "Classic of Poetry".The word 剪子 is still used in modern Chinese today. It is the most common word for "scissors" and is used in both formal and informal settings. The word is also used in some other languages, such as Japanese and Korean.