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The character 剽 is a phono-semantic compound that connotes aggression and swiftness. Its right side, 刂, is the knife radical (abbreviated from 刀), signaling cutting or blade-related violence. The left side 票 functions as the phonetic, yielding the pronunciation piào. The original meaning was to rob or plunder using a weapon, closely tied to this knife element. Later, it broadened to signify swift, agile actions, often describing martial or physical agility. In modern Chinese, it appears most frequently in 剽窃 (piāoqiè), which means plagiarism, the stealing of another person's creative work or ideas.
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