凹陷 (āo xiàn) — sunken, depressed (of a surface or area)

Definition

verb
sunkendepressed (of a surface or area)

Examples

  • 凹陷
    Dì zhèn hòu, lù miàn chū xiàn le míng xiǎn de āo xiàn.
    After the earthquake, obvious depressions appeared on the road surface.
  • 凹陷
    Tā de liǎn jiá yīn wèi xiāo shòu ér āo xiàn.
    His cheeks are sunken due to thinness.
  • 凹陷
    Zhè ge dì qū de dì miàn yǒu xiē āo xiàn, xū yào tián píng.
    The ground in this area is a bit sunken and needs to be leveled.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

āoconcave

凹 gives the hollow shape, and 陷 gives the sinking, together describing a depressed surface.

Characters in this word

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

Open 凹 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
xiànxiàn
Same sound today

In 陷, the older form 臽 pictured falling into a trap; 阜 was added later to differentiate it.

Open 陷 →
Appears in

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