About
The character for hairpin, traditionally rendered as "釵", structurally integrates the metal radical "金" with the component "叉", which provides both phonetic guidance and a visual suggestion of a forked shape, reflecting the object's design as a two-pronged metal implement used to fasten hair. Its etymology clearly anchors the meaning in a tangible artifact, and this primary sense of a decorative hair accessory has maintained consistency across historical texts, though literary usage occasionally extended the term to symbolize the wearer or feminine elegance more abstractly. The later form "钗" simplifies the metal radical to "钅" while retaining "叉", thus preserving the original compositional logic and the enduring conceptual link to a metal hairpin without altering its fundamental denotation.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
她戴着一支玉钗。
这支金钗很贵重。
妹妹喜欢收集各种钗。
奶奶的钗是传家宝。
她在古董店买了一支古钗。
那支凤钗雕刻得非常精细。
由于钗的材质特殊，需要小心保管。
在传统婚礼上，新娘通常会戴一支华丽的钗。