无机 (wú jī) — inorganic

Definition

The opposite of 有机 (organic); describes chemical compounds and matter that do not contain carbon–hydrogen bonds (e.g. minerals, metals). Use 有机 for carbon-based life and chemistry.

adjective
inorganic

Examples

  • 无机。
    Lǎo shī jiào wǒ men wú jī huà xué de zhī shi.
    The teacher taught us knowledge of inorganic chemistry.
  • 无机。
    Zhè zhǒng wú jī cái liào hěn jiē shi.
    This kind of inorganic material is very strong.
  • 。
    Tā men yán jiū le wú jī wù de jié gòu.
    They studied the structure of inorganic matter.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

无wúnot have
机jīorganic matter

无 means not have, and 机 points to organic matter, so 无机 describes something not organic.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

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