Taxonomy of meanings for 機:　　

  • 機 jī (OC: kɯl MC: kɨi) 居依切 平 廣韻：【㑹也萬機也説文云主發謂之機書曰若虞機張傳云機弩牙也居依切十六 】
    • TRIGGER
      • ntrigger mechanism (especially in crossbow)
      • npost-NfigurativeimpulseCH
      • nabfigurativecrucial mechanism; lynchpinCH
    • crucial part of skeleton>BONE
        • generalised>MACHINE
          • ncontraption, mechanical device; triggering contraption; mechanical device
          • nadNmechanical
          • nab.post-Ninitiating mechanism; moving mechanismCH
          • specific: bed for dead body>BIER
            • specific: for catching birds etc>TRAP
              • specific: for weaving>LOOM
                • nloom
                • nadNof the loom
              • metaphorical: feature>CRAFTY
                • nabdispositioncraftiness
                • nadNcontrived and crafty
              • abstract<CAUSE
                • nabmetaphysicalcausal mechanism; crucial mechanism; underlying mechanism
                • physical>ENERGY
                  • appraisive>IMPORTANT
                    • abstract>PRINCIPLE
                      • nabmetaphysicalcrucial point; crucial initiative; decisive mechanism; device
                      • deliberate>PLAN
                        • nabtactics; strategic undertakings; tactical purpose, tactical point
                    • temporal>OPPORTUNITY
                        • abstract>MOMENT
                            • abstract>TIME
                              • ncrucial point in time
                  • STARS
                    • =幾
                    • =璣

                    Additional information about 機

                    說文解字: 【機】，主發謂之機。从木、幾聲。 【居衣切】

                      Criteria
                    • IMPORTANT

                      1. The most general term for the relative importance and crucial nature of something is yào 要 (ant. xì 細 ).

                      2. Zhòng 重 (ant. qīng 輕 "of no consequence") focusses on what carries considerable weight in a certain context.

                      3. Zhǔ 主 (ant. cì 次 "secondary") refers to what is crucial and primary, or dominant, in a certain context.

                      4. Běn 本 (ant. mò 末 ) refers to what is basic and and a matter of substance in a context.

                      5. Shǒu 首 (wěi 尾 / mò 末 ) refers what deserves to come first or what deserves to be regarded of first importance.

                      6. Jí 極 refers to the ultimate most elevated point of something.

                      7. Jī 機 refers to the crucial mechanism that makes something work properly.

                    • MACHINE

                      1. The general term for any mechanical device, especially any such device used in weaponry, is xiè 械.

                      2. Jī 機 refers specifically to a triggering device on weapons, but also more generally to any complex mechanical device.

                      3. Yǐn 檃 refers to a mechanical device for straightening timber.

                    • TIME

                      1. An abstract general word for time as such is rì yuè 日月 or nián suì 年歲.

                      2. Shí 時 refers to any period of time or point in time.

                      3. Jì 際 can refer to a juncture in time.

                      4. Jī 機 comes to refer to a crucial juncture or point in time, but so far no pre-Buddhist examples have been found.

                    • CAUSE

                      1. The general word primarily for something further back in time causing something later in time, but also applied to logical grounds of any kind is gù 故, and the image is that of a solid background against which something is happening. Both subjective reasons and objective causes are referred to by this word.

                      2. Yīn 因 is what an animate or inanimate agent bases himself on in order to develop or act, and the image is that of leaning on it.

                      3. Yóu 由 and zì 自 are only occasionally nominalised and metaphorically construe the ground as something from which the consequence "flows", and the image is that of a source from which an action or a process flows.

                      4. Yǐ 以 is only occasionally nominalised and construes the grounds as something used by the consequence in order for it to be established, and the image is of the use a subject makes, in the course of some action, of something else.

                      5. Yuán 緣 is construed as grounds one uses as a guideline, and yuán 緣 always indicates grounds used by a person, and the image is of a guideline one follows in action.

                      6. Jī 機 is an objective cause construed metaphorically as a triggering mechanism for what is caused, and the image is of a mechanism triggering an event or an action.

                      Word relations
                    • Assoc: (CRAFTY)巧/CRAFTY Qiǎo 巧 (ant. zhuó 拙 "inept") is very common and emphasises the element of skill involved.
                    • Assoc: (MACHINE)關/GATE PART
                    • Assoc: (LOOM)杼/SHUTTLE
                    • Synon: (PRINCIPLE)要/PRINCIPLE Yào 要 refers to the single underlying most important principle that governs something.