掉色 (diào shǎi) — (verb) to lose color, to fade (of dyed material…

Definition

A separable verb meaning dyed fabric loses its color (fades, runs). It is about color loss specifically — not about general wear like 旧.

verb

to lose colorto fade (of dyed materials)

掉色。
Zhè tiáo qún zi diào shǎi.
This skirt fades.
。
Nà tiáo niú zǎi kù diào guò yí cì sè.
That pair of jeans has faded once.
掉色。
Zhè zhǒng bù liào xǐ duō le róng yì diào shǎi.
This kind of fabric fades easily after many washes.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

掉diàodrop/lose

“掉” is to drop or lose, and “色” is color, so it means to fade.

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.

扌卓掉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

卓

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

掉 is built from 扌 (a hand) and 卓, which gives the pronunciation.

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

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.