微米 (wēi mǐ) — micron (unit of length, one millionth of a meter)

Definition

classifier
micron (unit of length, one millionth of a meter)

Examples

  • 微米。
    Zhè zhǒng cái liào de chǐ cùn shì shí wēi mǐ.
    The size of this material is ten microns.
  • 微米。
    Yì wēi mǐ děng yú qiān fēn zhī yī háo mǐ.
    One micron equals one thousandth of a millimeter.
  • 微米。
    Zhè ge bìng dú de dà xiǎo zhǐ yǒu jǐ wēi mǐ.
    The size of this virus is only a few microns.

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.

微wēitiny
米mǐmeter

微 means tiny and 米 means meter, so 微米 denotes a millionth of a meter.

Characters in this word

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

The old form showed 𡵂 (a variant of 美, a person with long hair) and 攵 (a hand with a tool) splitting or combing hairs, hence minute; 微 later added 彳 to emphasize action.

Open 微 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

米 is a picture of rice kernels without husk, with the horizontal stroke as a bamboo sieve. It is unrelated to similar-looking grain characters.

Open 米 →

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