About
弦 is a phono-semantic compound: the left side is the bow radical 弓, anchoring the character's original meaning to archery and stringed weapons, while the right side 玄 provides the pronunciation and evokes a thin, dark thread. Initially, it designated exclusively the taut string of a bow used for shooting arrows in hunting and warfare. This meaning later broadened to include the strings of musical instruments, giving rise to terms for playing music and stringed instruments. In mathematics and astronomy, the character took on the abstract sense of the chord of a circle and the hypotenuse of a right triangle, marking a shift from a physical bowstring to a straight line connecting two points.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
这把琴的弦很旧。
音乐课上我们学习弦乐。
吉他需要定期更换弦。
小提琴的弦通常由金属制成。
他精通各种弦乐器的演奏。
弦理论是物理学中的一个重要概念。
在几何学中，弦是圆上连接两点的线段。
现代弦乐四重奏通常由两把小提琴、一把中提琴和一把大提琴组成。
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