删
shān · HSK 7
to delete
🗑️ 删 = bamboo slips 册 + knife 刂 = scrape writing off the slips, to delete
Ancient books were bamboo strips bound together (册). The knife radical 刂 on the right is the scribe's tool for shaving off mistaken characters. Together they mean to cut text out, to delete.
删 — 册 (bamboo slips) + 刂 (knife)
删 originally depicted a knife (刂) cutting bamboo slips bound together as a book (册). In ancient China, texts were written on bamboo strips, and errors were scraped or cut away with a knife. The character thus came to mean 'to delete' or 'to edit out.'