光柱 (guāng zhù) — beam of light, light beam; (astronomy) light cross

Definition

noun
beam of lightlight beam(astronomy) light cross
Measure word · 道

Examples

  • 光柱。
    Hēi àn zhōng chū xiàn le yí dào guāng zhù.
    A beam of light appeared in the darkness.
  • 光柱。
    Jī guāng qì fā chū de guāng zhù fēi cháng míng liàng.
    The light beam emitted by the laser is very bright.
  • 光柱。
    Tiān wén xué jiā guān cè dào le hǎn jiàn de guāng zhù xiàn xiàng.
    Astronomers observed a rare light cross phenomenon.

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.

光guānglight
柱zhùpillar

光 means light and 柱 means a pillar, so the word pictures a pillar-like beam of light.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ柱zhù
Same sound today

The left part 木 shows that 柱 is connected with wood. The right part 主 gives the pronunciation.

Open 柱 →

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