錠 (dìng) - Ingot & spindle

錠Tone 4

dìng ｜ 16 strokes ｜ radical:

丁恩

錠 · dìng

Ingot;

spindle;

a small block of metal, especially gold or silver;

a spindle for winding thread;

a tablet or lozenge (medicine);

to fix or settle.

Ingotspindlea small block of metal, especially gold or

Usage highlights

Gold ingotSilver ingotSpindleTabletIngot moldPaper ingot

Synonyms

  • 銠— rhodium (a precious metal, shares the 'metal/valuable' semantic field)

Antonyms

  • 散— scattered, loose (antonym to the 'fixed, solidified' sense of an ingot)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The gold ingot was heavy (金錠).
  • She wound thread on the spindle (紡錠).
  • Take one tablet after meals (錠劑).
  • The machine's spindle rotates quickly (錠子).

Collocations

  • Gold ingot(金錠)
  • Silver ingot(銀錠)
  • Spindle(紡錠)
  • Tablet (medicine)(錠劑)
  • Ingot mold(錠模)
  • Paper ingot (paper money for burning)(紙錠)

Idioms

  • None of particular prominence for this character.

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Historically, ingots (錠) were a form of currency and store of value in pre-modern China.
  • Paper ingots (紙錠) are burned as offerings to ancestors or deities in traditional Chinese folk religion.
  • The character is associated with wealth, stability, and fixed value due to its ingot meaning.

FAQ