五角星 (wǔ jiǎo xīng) — five-pointed star

Definition

noun

five-pointed star

Measure word · 颗

五角星。
Zhōng guó de guó qí shàng yǒu wǔ kē wǔ jiǎo xīng.
There are five five-pointed stars on the Chinese national flag.
五角星。
Tā jiǎn le yí gè hóng sè de wǔ jiǎo xīng tiē zài chuāng hu shàng.
She cut out a red five-pointed star and stuck it on the window.
五角星。
Zhè fú huà de yì jiǎo huà le yí gè wǔ jiǎo xīng.
A five-pointed star is drawn in one corner of this painting.

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.

五角five points

偏正Modifier + head

五 gives five, 角 gives points or corners, and 星 is a star.

Characters in this word

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

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

The form 角 is a picture of a horn.

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

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Appears in