小艇 (xiǎo tǐng) — small boat, skiff | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

small boatskiff

Measure word · 艘

Examples

小艇。
Tā huá zhe yì zhī xiǎo tǐng zài hú shàng diào yú.
He was rowing a small boat fishing on the lake.
小艇，。
Zhè sōu xiǎo tǐng suī rán bú dà, dàn fēi cháng wěn gù.
Although this skiff is not big, it is very stable.
小艇。
Wǒ men zū le yì sōu xiǎo tǐng qù tàn suǒ nà piàn hǎi wān.
We rented a small boat to explore that bay.

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.

小 points to smallness, and 艇 names a boat, so the word means a small boat or skiff.

Characters in this word

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

八八bāto divide; to separate
丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

舟廷艇

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

廷

廷tíng艇tǐng

Same sound today

艇 pairs 舟, meaning boat, with 廷, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Boats & Water Travel

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.