取而代之 (qǔ ér dài zhī)

Character breakdown

• 取 (qǔ) · 8 strokes

  Pictograph of a hand (又) grabbing an ear (耳). In ancient China, the ears of opponents in battle were cut off and collected as tokens of victory.

• 而 (ér) · 6 strokes

  Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.

• 代 (dài) · 5 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 弋 represents the sound.

• 之 (zhī) · 3 strokes

  Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Usage

手机逐渐取代了相机，电脑有取而代之的趋势。

(idiom) to replace; to supersede; to take its (or her etc) place

shǒu jī zhú jiàn qǔ dài le xiàng jī ， diàn nǎo yǒu qǔ ér dài zhī de qū shì 。