基因 (jī yīn) — gene | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

gene

Examples

基因。
Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū rén lèi jī yīn de ào mì.
Scientists are studying the mystery of human genes.
基因。
Zhè ge jiā zú xié dài le yì zhǒng hǎn jiàn jī yīn.
This family carries a rare gene.
基因。
jī yīn Biān jí jì shù kě néng gǎi biàn wèi lái yī xué.
Gene-editing technology could change future medicine.

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.

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; the word spells the foreign term gene.

Sound-only characters

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

其土基

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí基jī

Same sound today

The lower 土 means earth, and the upper 其 gives the sound; together they form the idea of a foundation of earth.

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

囗大因

囗囗wéisheet
大大dàperson

Originally, 因 showed 大 (a person) on 囗 (a sheet or mattress).

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Biology 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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