木纹 (mù wén) — wood grain, the natural pattern on the surface… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

wood grain, the natural pattern on the surface of wood

Measure word · 种

Examples

木纹。
Zhè kuài mù tou de mù wén hěn piào liang.
The wood grain on this piece of wood is very beautiful.
木纹。
Wǒ xǐ huan yǒu qīng xī mù wén de jiā jù.
I like furniture with clear wood grain.
木纹。
Zhè zhǒng dì bǎn de mù wén shì rén gōng zuò de.
The wood grain on this type of flooring is man-made.

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.

纹wénpattern

木 gives wood, and 纹 names the pattern on its surface.

Characters in this word

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

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 紋; 纹 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìthread

Sound part声符shēngfú

文

Same sound today

The traditional form 紋 pairs 糸 (thread) with 文 as the sound part, giving the sense of a line of thread; this note is about 紋, not 纹.

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