指甲油 (zhǐ jiǎ yóu) — nail polish | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

nail polish

Measure word · 瓶

Examples

指甲油。
Tā jīn tiān tú le hóng sè de zhǐ jiǎ yóu.
She put on red nail polish today.
指甲油。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yì píng xīn de zhǐ jiǎ yóu.
I want to buy a new bottle of nail polish.
指甲油，。
Zhè zhǒng zhǐ jiǎ yóu xǐ bú diào, yào yòng xiè jiǎ shuǐ.
This nail polish doesn't wash off; you need nail polish remover.

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.

指甲nail

指zhǐfinger甲jiǎnail

偏正Modifier + head

指甲 gives nail and 油 gives oil, meaning polish for nails.

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.

扌旨指

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

旨

旨zhǐ指zhǐ

Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

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

甲 is drawn as a hard protective shell, carapace, or scales of an animal, or as armor made of connected plates.

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

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

Toiletries & Cosmetics

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