天平 (tiān píng) — scales, balance (for weighing)

Definition

天平 is the two-pan laboratory balance (a beam with two trays and a pointer). Compare 秤, the general everyday Chinese steelyard or platform scale.

noun

scalesbalance (for weighing)

Measure word · 台

天平。
Shí yàn shì lǐ de tiān píng fēi cháng jīng què.
The scales in the lab are very precise.
天平。
Tā yòng tiān píng chēng chū le wǔ bǎi kè miàn fěn.
He used the scale to weigh out five hundred grams of flour.
天平。
tiān píng De liǎng duān gè fàng yí gè fǎ mǎ cái néng píng héng.
Only by placing a weight on each end of the balance can it be balanced.

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.

天平 evokes a balance whose beam is as level as the sky, used for weighing objects.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

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

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

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

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

Appears in