暗箱 (àn xiāng) — (noun) camera bellows; dark chamber (photography); (noun, figurative) black box; secretive, non-transparent operation (often in 暗箱操作)

Definition

Literally 'dark box' (the bellows/dark chamber of a camera), but in modern usage it almost always means a 'black box' — hidden, non-transparent process, usually paired with 操作 (暗箱操作).

noun
camera bellowsdark chamber (photography)(noun, figurative) black boxsecretivenon-transparent operation (often in 暗箱操作)

Examples

  • 暗箱。
    Zhè tái lǎo shì xiàng jī de àn xiāng yǐ jīng pò sǔn le.
    The bellows on this old camera are already damaged.
  • 暗箱。
    Zhè cì xuǎn jǔ bèi zhǐ zé yǒu àn xiāng cāo zuò.
    This election was accused of having backroom dealings.
  • ，暗箱。
    Zhèng fǔ yāo qiú gōng kāi zhāo biāo guò chéng, bì miǎn àn xiāng.
    The government requires the bidding process to be open, to avoid black-box operations.

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.

暗àndark
箱xiāngbox

暗 describes the 箱 as dark, giving the camera box or black box.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
音
音yīn暗àn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

暗 pairs 日 (sun) with 音, which gives the sound.

Open 暗 →

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng箱xiāng
Same sound today

箱 combines 竹, showing bamboo, with 相 as a sound part, to write a bamboo box or case.

Open 箱 →

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