密林 (mì lín) — dense forest, thick woods

Definition

noun

dense forestthick woods

Measure word · 片

密林。
Tàn xiǎn duì zǒu jìn le mì lín shēn chù.
The expedition team walked deep into the dense forest.
密林。
Zhè piàn mì lín lǐ yǒu hěn duō yě shēng dòng wù.
There are many wild animals in this dense forest.
密林。
Yáng guāng hěn nán zhào jìn mì lín.
Sunlight barely reaches into the dense forest.

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.

密 means dense, 林 means forest, so it is thick woods.

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.

宓山密

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

宓

宓mì密mì

Same sound today

密 pairs 山 (mountain) with 宓 (mì), which gives the pronunciation, to picture something hidden in the mountains, hence secret.

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

木木林

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.