容量 (róng liàng) — capacity; volume | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

容量 is the 'capacity' of a container, device, or system — how much it can hold. Compare 体积 (the physical space an object itself takes up) and 量 (a general 'amount').

noun

capacityvolume

Examples

容量。
Zhè ge bēi zi de róng liàng shì wǔ bǎi háo shēng.
The capacity of this cup is 500 milliliters.
容量。
Xīn yìng pán de róng liàng bǐ jiù de dà hěn duō.
The new hard drive has much more capacity than the old one.
容量。
Wǒ men xū yào píng gū xì tǒng de róng liàng shì fǒu zú gòu.
We need to evaluate whether the system's capacity is sufficient.

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.

容róngcontain

量liángquantity

“容” means contain and “量” means quantity, together naming how much something can hold.

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

公

公gōng容róng

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

In 容, the 宀 (roof) part points to holding or containing, and 公 gives the sound.

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

日日rìsun
東東dōngbag; east

量 has 日 (sun) over 東 (bag; east). Some explanations suggest measuring under the sun or the sun rising in the east, but the exact origin is unclear.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Abstract Concepts

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