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冬眠 (dōng mián) — hibernation

Definition

Refers to the deep sleep-like state some animals enter through the winter to survive the cold. Distinct from ordinary 睡觉 — body temperature, heart rate, and metabolism all drop sharply.

noun
hibernation

Examples

  • 冬眠。
    Yǒu xiē dòng wù kào dōng mián dù guò hán lěng de dōng tiān.
    Some animals survive the cold winter through hibernation.
  • ，冬眠。
    Xióng zhěng gè dōng tiān dōu zài shuì jiào, zhè shì yì zhǒng dōng mián.
    Bears sleep the whole winter; this is a type of hibernation.
  • 冬眠，。
    Zài dōng mián qī jiān, dòng wù de tǐ wēn huì dà fú xià jiàng.
    During hibernation, the animal's body temperature drops significantly.

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.

冬dōngwinter
眠miánsleep

冬眠 combines 冬 'winter' with 眠 'sleep' to describe the long winter sleep of animals.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 冬 →

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
民
民mín眠mián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眠 uses 目 (eye) to show the idea of closing the eyes, with 民 giving the sound.

Open 眠 →
Appears in
Biology

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