About
The character for "to execute" or "executioner", now written as "刽", originates from its traditional form "劊", which is structured from the phonetic component "會" (huì) and the semantic radical "刂" (dāo), indicating a knife or blade. This composition reflects an act performed with a blade, where the original phonetic element "會" also carried connotations of meeting or gathering, potentially implying an act that brings matters to a decisive end or a gathering for a public punishment. Over centuries, the character's meaning narrowed and specialized, focusing specifically on the act of execution by decapitation or the person who carries it out. The simplified form "刽" emerged by replacing the complex phonetic "會" with the simpler, homophonous "会", while retaining the knife radical, thus preserving the character's core phonetic and semantic identity in a more streamlined graphic form.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
刽子手在古代是一种职业。
那个刽子手在执行任务时面无表情。
残忍的刽子手最终受到了法律的审判。
在故事里，刽子手的刀总是闪着寒光。
这位演员将刽子手的复杂心理演绎得很出色。
民众对那个暴君的刽子手充满了恐惧与憎恨。
历史记载中，有些刽子手其实也是被迫从事这一行。
小说深刻揭露了战争如何把普通人变成冷酷的刽子手。