Taxonomy of meanings for 刺:　　

  • 刺 cì (OC: skhleɡs MC: tsʰiɛ) 七賜切 去 廣韻：【針刺爾雅曰刺殺也釋名曰書姓名於奏白曰刺漢武帝初置部刺史掌奉詔察州成帝更名牧哀帝復爲刺史七賜切又七亦切十 】
    • STAB
      • viactengage in stabbing people
      • vtoNstab; puncture, pierce
      • instrument for>WEAPON
          • important part of>TIP
            • nthe sharp point of a piercing weaponLZ
        • with lethal effect>KILL
          • vtoNkill by stabbing
          • vtoNreflexive.自kill (onself)
          • illegally>MURDER
            • vtoNstab (in order to kill)
            • generalised>REMOVE
              • vtoNto remove, to weed outLZ
        • by slight incision>PRICK
          • vtoNprick right down to (e.g. to the bone, as a doctor might); prick into
        • push and punt (boat)>NAVIGATE
          • vtoNto pole (a boat)
        • generalised>STIMULATE
          • perfective>PIERCE
            • vtoNstab into, puncture
            • vtoNpassivebe stung (by an insect), be pierced
            • so as to repair>SEW
              • subject: what pierces>THORN
                • nthorn
              • metaphorical>CONTRARY
                • vt+prep+Nbe contrary to
              • in order to understand>INVESTIGATE
                  • resultative>CHOOSE
                    • conclusion>JUDGE
                      • negative>CRITICISE
                        • vtoNfig: criticise; reprimand
                        • vttoN.+V[0]pivotfig: to criticise; castigate
                        • criminal>BLAME
                            • exocentric: writing that criticises>POEM
                              • nabtextsatirical poem; critical poem
                          • react>LAUGH
                            • vtoNput forward incisive criticism
                • 刺 ｑｉ４《晉書音義》七亦反。
                  • ONOMATOPOETICS
                • 刺 qì (OC: skhleɡ MC: tsʰiɛk) 七迹切 入 廣韻：【穿也又七四切 】
                • 刺 cì (OC: skhleɡs MC: tsʰiɛ) 七賜切 去 廣韻：【俗刺 】

                  Additional information about 刺

                  說文解字: 【刺】，君殺大夫曰刺。刺，直傷也。从刀、从朿，朿亦聲。 【七賜切】

                    Criteria
                  • MURDER

                    1. The standard word for murder is the same as the general word for killing, shā 殺.

                    2. Shì 弒 refers to assassination of a ruler, and always with negative connotations (the justified killing of a ruler would still be shā 殺 ).

                    3. Cì 刺 is to stab and thereby kill.

                    4. Zéi 賊 refers to an arranged murder, often through a hired assassin.

                    5. Zhèn 鴆 is to kill with poison.

                  • KILL

                    1. The overwhelmingly dominant term referring to any form of taking the life of anything is shā 殺.

                    2. Some words specify the range of objects murdered: Thus shì 弒 refers to the killing of a reigning ruler, zhū 誅 and yí 夷 refer to the killing of a convicted criminal; zǎi 宰 and tú3 屠 refer primarily to the slaughtering of animals for the purpose of food production.

                    3. Some words specify the number of objects killed: yí 夷, zú 族, jiān 殲 tú 屠 (when applied to humans) refer to the killing of groups of people. See PUNISHMENT. The other words refer normally to the killing of one person or a specified set of several persons.

                    4. Some words specify modes of killing: cì 刺 is to murder by stabbing with a pointed object, typically a dagger; liè 裂 and jiě 解 refer to dismembering by a wide variety of methods; zhèn 鴆 refers to poisoning; jǐng 剄 refers to cutting the throat; xī 腊 refers to killing followed by making a person into minced meat; rèn 刃 is to kill with a sword; jiǎo 絞 and yì 縊 refer to strangulation, è4 mèi 扼昧 and refer to strangulation; è 餓 can refer to starving someone to death. For a more detailed account of the varieties of death penalties in ancient China see PUNISHMENT.

                  • REGION

                    1. The general old word for a region is zhōu 州 as in jiǔ zhōu 九州 "the Nine Regions of the World". Especially from Three Kingdom times onwards this word came to regularly replace the term jùn 郡 as the designation of a province. In Han times, under emperor Wǔdì, the leader of a zhōu 州 is called cì shǐ 刺史.

                    2. Xiàn 縣 referred to a military region under states already in Spring and Autumn times, and these regions were in the border regions. Later, especially in the state of Qin, annexed states were converted into 36 jùn 郡 "commanderies" (governed by a tài shǒu 太守 "governor") which in turn were subdivided into xiàn 縣 "districts" (governed by a lìng 令 "commander" or zhǎng 長 "official-in-charge").

                  • PIERCE

                    1. The current general word for piercing anything is cì 刺, which also typically refers to stabbing and piercing something, usually inorder to damage it.

                    2. Guàn 貫 is to make a hole in the middle of something so as to be able to string it up.

                    3. Chuān 穿 refers to piercing something so as to make a hole in it.

                    4. Xiàn 陷 refers to piercing something so as to get to the inside of it.

                    Word relations
                  • Result: (STAB)殺 / 煞/KILL The overwhelmingly dominant term referring to any form of taking the life of anything is shā 殺.
                  • Ant: (CONTRARY)合/CONFORM Zhōu 周 and hé 合 (all ant. fǎn 反 "go against the model") refer to complete all-round conformity construed as overall identification with a model.
                  • Contrast: (CRITICISE)譏/CRITICISE Jī 譏 is part of the historian's standard repertoire and refers typically to historian's censure of the behaviour of historical personalities.
                  • Contrast: (CRITICISE)非/CRITICISE The current general term for criticism is fēi 非 (ant. shì 是 "approve of").
                  • Synon: (CRITICISE)非/CRITICISE The current general term for criticism is fēi 非 (ant. shì 是 "approve of").