化学武器 (huà xué wǔ qì) — chemical weapon

Definition

noun

chemical weapon

Measure word · 种

化学武器。
Guó jì shè huì jìn zhǐ shǐ yòng huà xué wǔ qì.
The international community prohibits the use of chemical weapons.
化学武器。
Tā men zhèng zài xiāo huǐ kù cún de huà xué wǔ qì.
They are destroying the stockpiled chemical weapons.
化学武器。
Zhè zhǒng huà xué wǔ qì duì píng mín shāng hài jí dà.
This type of chemical weapon causes great harm to civilians.

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.

化学chemistry

偏正Modifier + head

武器weapon

武wǔmartial器qìinstrument

偏正Modifier + head

化学 chemistry and 武器 weapon combine to mean a weapon based on chemical agents.

Characters in this word

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

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

武 puts 戈 (dagger-axe) above 止 (foot/to walk), showing an army going on an expedition.

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Appears in