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定时器 (dìng shí qì) — timer

Definition

noun
timer
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 定时器。
    Qǐng bǎ dìng shí qì diào dào shí fēn zhōng.
    Please set the timer to ten minutes.
  • 定时器。
    Zhè ge dìng shí qì kě yǐ tóng shí shè zhì liǎng gè shí jiān.
    This timer can set two times at once.
  • 定时器。
    Pǎo bù de shí hou wǒ yòng dìng shí qì jì shí.
    I use a timer to keep time when I run.

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.

定时set a time
定dìngset时shítime
动宾Verb + object
器qìdevice

An 器 for 定 时, a device that fixes a time to act or stop.

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng定dìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

定 is built from 宀 and 正, with 正 supplying the sound.

Open 定 →

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 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun; day
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī時shí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 時 pairs 日 (sun/day) with 之 as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 时 is not the form described.

Open 时 →

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →
Appears in
Miscellaneous ObjectsTechnology & Engineering

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