失物 (shī wù) — lost property, lost article(s)

Definition

noun
lost propertylost article(s)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 失物失物
    Wǒ zài gōng jiāo chē shàng diū le shī wù, xū yào qù shī wù zhāo lǐng chù wèn wèn.
    I lost a belonging on the bus; I need to go ask at the lost and found office.
  • 失物
    Qǐng nǐ què rèn zhè shì nǐ diū shī de shī wù.
    Please confirm that this is the lost item you lost.
  • 失物
    Tā bǎ jiǎn dào de shī wù jiāo dào le jǐng chá jú.
    He turned in the lost item he found to the police station.

Origin

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.

thing

失 gives the sense of lost, and 物 refers to things, so the word names lost property.

Characters in this word

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

The shape is explained as a fallen person's footprint surrounded by drops of blood; another reading pairs 手 (hand) and 乙 to show something falling from a hand.

Open 失 →

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
Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Open 物 →

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