尾灯 (wěi dēng) — tail light (on a vehicle)

Definition

noun
tail light (on a vehicle)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 尾灯,。
    Qì chē de hòu wěi dēng huài le, xū yào xiū lǐ.
    The car's tail light is broken and needs repair.
  • ,尾灯。
    Mǎ lù shang, yí liàng chē de wěi dēng bú liàng le.
    On the road, a car's tail light wasn't working.
  • 尾灯。
    Kāi chē qián jiǎn chá wěi dēng shì fǒu zhèng cháng gōng zuò.
    Check whether the tail light is working normally before driving.

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.

尾 marks the back or tail position, and 灯 is a light, together naming a vehicle's rear lamp.

Characters in this word

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

The form 尾 combines 尸 (person) and 毛 (hair; feather).

Open 尾 →

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng灯dēng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

灯 pairs 火, which shows fire, with 丁, which gives the sound.

Open 灯 →
Appears in

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