彩灯 (cǎi dēng) — colored lights, colorful decorative lights | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers to festive, decorative colored lights — typically hung at celebrations like Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. Concrete cultural object, no close synonym in the curriculum.

noun

colored lightscolorful decorative lights

Measure word · 盏

Examples

，彩灯。
Chūn jié shí, jiē shàng guà mǎn le cǎi dēng.
During Spring Festival, the streets are hung with colored lights.
彩灯。
Hái zi men xǐ huan kàn gōng yuán lǐ de cǎi dēng.
Children like to watch the colored lights in the park.
彩灯。
Yuán xiāo jié de cǎi dēng fēi cháng piào liang.
The colored lights at the Lantern Festival are very beautiful.

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.

彩cǎicolored

彩 means colored and 灯 means lamp; a lamp with many colors.

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.

采彡彩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

采cǎi彩cǎi

Same sound today

彩 puts 采, which gives the sound, next to 彡, the three-stroke mark that carries the meaning.

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

火丁灯

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.

Appears in

Miscellaneous Objects

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