Dong Chinese dictionary

zhēn

needle

Phonosemantic compound. 金 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

金 Meaning component

jīn

metal

十 Sound component

shí

ten

針 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.針 /*t.[k]əm/
十 /*t.[g]əp/

Definitions

zhēn

needle; pin; tack; acupuncture; injection; stitch; CL:根[gēn],支[zhī]

Most common words with 針

Sources