quarter (hour)

moment; to carve; to engrave; to cut; oppressive; classifier for short time intervals

knife (刂) + 亥 (phonetic) = carve and cut

The knife radical (刂) carries the meaning: carving, cutting, marking. 亥 contributes the sound kè and does not add meaning here.

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The last earthly branchPhonetic
KnifeSemantic

Words with 刻

铭刻

míng kè

a carved inscription

铭心刻骨

míng xīn kè gǔ

lit. etched into one's heart and bones (idiom)

镂刻

lòu kè

to carve

镌刻

juān kè

to engrave

雕刻

diāo kè

to carve

雕刻品

diāo kè pǐn

sculpture

雕刻家

diāo kè jiā

sculptor

雕虫篆刻

diāo chóng zhuàn kè

literary trifles

顷刻

qǐng kè

instantly

顷刻间

qǐng kè jiān

in an instant

复刻

fù kè

variant of 復刻|复刻[fu4 ke4]

骨刻

gǔ kè

carving in bone

More characters with 亥