TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
段
段 ＝ 殳 ＋ 耑
ㄉㄨㄢˋ · duàn
noun — section, length, stretch
字源 FORM — what the parts do
殳義a hand swinging a tool — to strike
耑聲duān — gives the soundtrimmed to its sound (耑省聲); the sprouting-plant shape, hard to spot
Tduān → duàn — the same 耑 in 端 duān, 瑞 ruì
A striking tool (殳) plus 耑, trimmed to lend just its sound. 說文: 椎物也 — to beat a thing. You strike a length off, break it at a joint; what comes away is one section. From the broken-off piece: a stretch of road, a phase, a paragraph — 段落、階段.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
手持槌子（殳）往一根長條一敲，啪——斷成一段。
A hand swings the mallet (殳) at a long bar — and it breaks off one length, one section.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)段落、一段— section; paragraph常用
→階段— stage; phase常用
→一段路、一段時間— a stretch (of road; of time)
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
殳shūthe striking half — 段 sets to its left端＝ 立 ＋ duānthe bare phonetic with 立 — an end, an upright start