About
The character for writing brush, and by extension pen or pencil, originates from the traditional form "筆", which is a compound ideograph composed of the bamboo radical "⺮" atop the component "聿", depicting a hand holding a vertical stroke or brush. This structure directly illustrated the primary ancient writing tool: a bamboo shaft with an animal-hair bundle. Over centuries, the character’s application expanded semantically from denoting the specific physical brush to representing the act of writing itself and any instrument used for that purpose, encompassing modern pens and pencils. The simplified form "笔" maintains this conceptual logic by replacing the upper bamboo component with its abbreviated form "⺮" and substituting the lower complex part with "毛", meaning hair, thus still evoking the core materials of the traditional brush in a more streamlined graphic construction.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
这是我的新铅笔。
他用钢笔写字。
我每天做笔记。
这条路笔直向前。
我有一个外国笔友。
他的笔名很有名。
我能认出他的笔迹。
她用漂亮的笔调写故事。