人鱼 (rén yú) — mermaid; a mythical creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish; dugong; a marine mammal also known as the sea cow
Definition
Literally "human-fish," used in folk tales and classical Chinese for both mermaids and dugongs (sea cows). Today the mythical mermaid sense is the common one; the dugong sense is rare and technical.
noun
mermaida mythical creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fishdugonga marine mammal also known as the sea cow
Measure word · 个
Examples
- 。Tóng huà gù shi lǐ cháng cháng chū xiàn rén yú de xíng xiàng.Images of mermaids often appear in fairy tales.
- 。Rén yú shì shì jiè shàng zuì gǔ lǎo de hǎi yáng bǔ rǔ dòng wù zhī yī.The dugong is one of the oldest marine mammals in the world.
- 。Kē xué jiā zài ào dà lì yà hǎi àn fā xiàn le yì qún rén yú.Scientists discovered a group of dugongs off the coast of Australia.
Appears in
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