TongTong
Sign in

克隆 (kè lóng) — to clone

Definition

A borrowed word (from English "clone") used specifically for biological cloning of genes, cells, plants, or animals. For copying files or documents, use 复制.

verb
to clone

Examples

  • 克隆。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài kè lóng yì zhī tù zi.
    The scientist is cloning a rabbit.
  • 克隆。
    Wǒ men fǎn duì kè lóng dòng wù lái zuò shí yàn.
    We oppose cloning animals for experiments.
  • 克隆。
    Zhè xiàng jì shù kě yǐ yòng lái kè lóng zhí wù.
    This technology can be used to clone plants.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

克kè
隆lóng

The characters 克 and 隆 carry no meaning of their own here; together they spell the English word clone.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 克 →

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
生生shēng
Sound part声符shēngfú
降
降jiàng隆lóng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape of 隆 is made from 生 and 降, with 降 giving the sound; an older part was later dropped.

Open 隆 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Biology

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.