賊 (zéi) — a thief, bandit; (adj) crafty, wily

entries → 賊

TSUMUGU · TOCFL C1 (est.) · 字

賊 character · TOCFL C1 (est.)

賊＝貝＋戈＋則

ㄗㄟˊ · zéi

noun — a thief, bandit; (adj) crafty, wily

字源 FORM — what the parts do

貝義a cowrie shell — money, goods to be taken

戈義a dagger-axe — the weapon

則聲zé — gives the sound, worn to zéi; its shell 貝 is the one you see on the left

FTzé → zéi — the same {z} initial, vowel and tone shift

A weapon (戈) raised over goods (貝) — 賊 begins as the harm done with a blade, then the one who does it: the thief, the bandit. The phonetic is 則 zé, worn to zéi; the 貝 on the left is 則's own shell, and the 戈 is the weapon laid against it. From robbery comes the crafty, wily streak: 賊頭賊腦.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

一把戈（戈）架到財貨（貝）上——動手的，就是賊。

A dagger-axe (戈) laid against the goods (貝) — the one who moves is the thief.

字源記憶法

意 · Meanings

(本義)敗壞、傷害— to harm, to ruin

→盜賊、賊匪— thief, bandit常用

⇒賊頭賊腦— crafty, sneaky, wily

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension