旋涡 (xuán wō) — whirlpool; vortex; eddy; spiral | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A whirlpool-like swirl — in water (whirlpool/vortex), in air (eddy), or metaphorically (a whirlpool of emotions). As a noun it names the swirl itself; 盘旋 is the verb for something circling or spiraling through the air.

noun

whirlpoolvortexeddyspiral

Measure word · 个

Examples

旋涡。
Chuán bèi juǎn rù le yí gè jù dà de xuán wō.
The ship was sucked into a huge whirlpool.
旋涡。
Fēi jī yù dào le qiáng liè de qì liú xuán wō.
The plane encountered a strong air vortex.
旋涡。
Tā xiàn rù le qíng gǎn de xuán wō zhōng.
He fell into a whirlpool of emotions.

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.

旋 means to whirl and 涡 means an eddy, giving a whirling vortex.

Characters in this word

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

㫃㫃㫃flag
止止zhǐfoot
〇〇língcircle

旋 combines 㫃 (a flag), 止 (a foot), and 〇 (a circle), and 〇 also gave the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 渦; 涡 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi渦wō

Same sound today

The traditional form 渦 pairs 水 (water) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 涡 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.