下水道 (xià shuǐ dào) — sewer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sewer

Measure word · 条

Examples

，下水道。
Bào yǔ guò hòu, xià shuǐ dào bèi dǔ zhù le.
After the rainstorm, the sewer got clogged.
下水道。
Gōng rén men zhèng zài qīng lǐ chéng shì xià shuǐ dào.
Workers are cleaning the city sewer.
下水道。
Zhè tiáo xià shuǐ dào xū yào dìng qī wéi hù.
This sewer needs regular maintenance.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

下水sewage/drainage

下xiàdrain水shuǐwater

动宾Verb + object

道dàochannel/pipe

下水 means sewage or drainage, and 道 is the pipe or channel that carries it.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

行行xíngstreet

止止zhǐfoot

Sound part声符shēngfú

𩠐

首shǒu道dào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Appears in

Public Facilities

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