失重 (shī zhòng) — weightlessness; zero gravity

Definition

A physics term for the state of 'weightlessness' or 'zero gravity' — the condition experienced in orbit or free fall, not the everyday loss of weight from dieting.

noun

weightlessnesszero gravity

Examples

失重。
Yǔ háng yuán zài tài kōng zhōng huì jīng lì shī zhòng zhuàng tài.
Astronauts experience a state of weightlessness in space.
失重。
shī zhòng Huán jìng duì shēng wù de shēng zhǎng yǒu hěn dà yǐng xiǎng.
A zero-gravity environment has a great impact on the growth of living things.
失重。
Kē xué jiā zài shí yàn shì mó nǐ le shī zhòng tiáo jiàn.
Scientists simulated weightlessness conditions in the laboratory.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

失shīlose

重zhòngweight

The idea of 失 as losing applied to 重 as weight gives the state of having no weight.

Characters in this word

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

手手shǒu
乙乙yǐ

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

人人rénman

Sound part声符shēngfú

東

東dōng重zhòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

Appears in

Space Exploration Physics & Chemistry