教训
jiàoxùn · HSK 4
lesson
📚 教 (teach) + 训 (instruct) = a lesson learned
教 means teach and 训 means to instruct or admonish. Together they form the noun for a lesson — often a hard-won moral drawn from experience or mistakes.
教 — 老 (filial son being taught) + 攵 (hand with stick)
教 originally depicted an adult holding a stick or rod (攵) instructing a child, often shown with the element 爻 (lessons/counting) above 子 (child). It is a classic associative compound meaning 'to teach' or 'to instruct,' with the right side suggesting discipline and guidance. The modern meanings 'teach, religion, doctrine' all extend from this image of formal instruction.
训 — speech radical 讠 (言) + river 川
A semantic-phonetic compound. The 讠 (speech) radical gives the meaning—words used to teach or instruct—while 川 (river) suggests the phonetic and the image of guiding flow. Together 训 means to instruct, admonish, or train, as in channeling someone with words.