钉

釘
dīng
#2,262 most
frequent character
nail, to follow closely

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

钉 joins 钅 metal with 丁 dīng, which supplies the sound. It first meant 'smelted gold plate'. The sense 'nail' grew because a nail's top can look like a small plate; from there came 'tack' and the verb 'to nail'. The sense 'follow closely' was borrowed for its sound, as a variant of 盯.

Ask DeepSeek

Same Characters, Different Readings

钉dìng
to join things together by fixing them in place at one or more points

Homophones

HSK 5
丁dīng
cubes of meat and vegetables, man
HSK 6
盯dīng
to watch attentively, to fix attention on

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.