条tiáo

条

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

条 (tiáo, "strip, item") appears in Simplified Chinese exactly as it does in traditional form, combining the ancient 夂 component — a pictograph of a slow-footed walker — with 木 (tree) to evoke a slender piece of wood or a long, thin object. The character has become indispensable in everyday speech, appearing in 条子 (strip), 条件 (condition), and 条纹 (stripe), where it lends its sense of orderly linearity to modern Chinese.

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Shuowen

条 (tiáo). The character depicts a tree (木) with a branch extending downward (夂), originally representing a slender twig or small branch torn from a tree. The phonetic component 夂 also suggests the action of pulling or stripping, capturing how one would break off a small枝 from the main trunk. Over time, this concrete image of a thin piece of wood expanded to mean "strip," "article," "order," and eventually "arrange in systematic rows."

Pinyin

tiáo· HSK 2

条tiáo

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin