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多米诺 (duō mǐ nuò) — domino (the game piece or tile)

Definition

Refers to a single domino tile (块) — also used in set phrases like 多米诺骨牌 ('dominoes, the game') and 多米诺效应 ('domino effect'), where it keeps the same pronunciation.

noun
domino (the game piece or tile)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 多米诺。
    Wǒ men zhōu mò yì qǐ wán duō mǐ nuò ba.
    Let's play dominoes together this weekend.
  • 多米诺，。
    Zhè ge duō mǐ nuò shì bái sè de, shàng miàn yǒu sì gè diǎn.
    This domino is white and has four dots on it.
  • 多米诺。
    Yí jiàn xiǎo shì kě néng yǐn fā duō mǐ nuò xiào yìng.
    A small incident can trigger the domino effect.

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.

多duō
米mǐ
诺nuò

The characters 多米诺 carry no meaning of their own here; the word spells the foreign word domino.

Sound-only characters

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

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

Open 多 →

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

米 is a picture of rice kernels without husk, with the horizontal stroke as a bamboo sieve. It is unrelated to similar-looking grain characters.

Open 米 →

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 諾; 诺 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword, speak
Sound part声符shēngfú
若
若ruò諾nuò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 諾 pairs 言, meaning word or speak, with 若 as a sound part, for an affirmative answer. The simplified 诺 is a later shorthand.

Open 诺 →
Appears in
Games & Puzzles

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