冷水浴 (lěng shuǐ yù) — cold bath; cold shower | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cold bathcold shower

Examples

冷水浴。
Tā měi tiān zǎo shàng jiān chí xǐ lěng shuǐ yù.
He insists on taking a cold shower every morning.
冷水浴。
lěng shuǐ yù Yǒu zhù yú zēng qiáng miǎn yì lì.
Cold baths help boost the immune system.
冷水浴。
Yùn dòng yuán xùn liàn hòu cháng xǐ lěng shuǐ yù lái huī fù tǐ lì.
Athletes often take cold showers after training to recover their strength.

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.

冷水cold water

冷lěngcold水shuǐwater

偏正Modifier + head

冷水 means cold water, and 浴 is a bath, so the sense is bathing in cold water.

Characters in this word

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

冫令冷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

冫Written in full as仌bīngice

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng冷lěng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

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

氵谷浴

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

谷

谷gǔ浴yù

Same sound today

浴 shows 氵 (water) beside 谷, which gives the sound, for bathing in water.

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