About
The character "椎" is structurally composed of the semantic element "木" for wood and the phonetic component "隹", indicating its original reference to a wooden hammer or mallet. Its primary meaning as a tool used for pounding gradually expanded to include the anatomical term for vertebrae, a transition probably motivated by the morphological similarity between the bone's shape and the tool's head. This semantic extension allowed "椎" to function in both literal and metaphorical domains, with the vertebral sense becoming predominant in modern scientific terminology while the tool sense persists in some lexical compounds and archaic usage.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我的颈椎很疼。
他伤了腰椎。
医生检查他的脊椎。
颈椎病需要及时治疗。
腰椎手术风险较高。
椎间盘突出很常见。
脊椎动物都有椎骨。
老年人容易患骨质疏松症，影响椎骨。