乘凉 (chéng liáng) — to relax in a cool place (e.g. under a tree, by water, in the shade)

Definition

乘凉 is a verb-object phrase meaning to enjoy the cool in a shady or breezy spot outdoors — typically sitting around in summer. It's a separable verb: 乘一会儿凉, 在树下乘凉.

verb
to relax in a cool place (e.g. under a tree, by water, in the shade)

Examples

  • ，乘凉。
    Xià tiān wǎn shàng, hěn duō rén xǐ huan zài yuàn zi lǐ chéng liáng.
    On summer evenings, many people like to relax in the cool in the courtyard.
  • 。
    Wǒ men zài shù xià chéng le yí huì r liáng.
    We relaxed in the cool under the tree for a while.
  • 乘凉。
    Gōng yuán lǐ yǒu hěn duō lǎo rén zài chéng liáng liáo tiān.
    In the park, many elderly people are relaxing in the cool and chatting.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

乘chéngtake advantage of
凉liángcoolness

乘 means taking advantage of, and 凉 means coolness; together they describe relaxing in a cool place.

Characters in this word

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

乘 was drawn as a person climbing a tree, with the feet visible.

Open 乘 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 涼; 凉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
京
京jīng涼liáng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 涼 combines 氵 (water) with 京, which gives the sound; the simplified 凉 is a later abbreviation.

Open 凉 →

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