枕套 (zhěn tào) — pillowcase

Definition

noun
pillowcase
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 枕套。
    Zhè ge zhěn tào shì xīn de.
    This pillowcase is new.
  • 枕套。
    Wǒ xū yào mǎi liǎng gè zhěn tào.
    I need to buy two pillowcases.
  • 枕套。
    Qǐng bǎ zhěn tào xǐ gān jìng.
    Please wash the pillowcase clean.

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.

枕zhěnpillow
套tàocover

枕 is a pillow and 套 is a cover, so it is the cover for a pillow.

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
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
冘
冘yóu枕zhěn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

枕 is written with 木 (wood) beside 冘; 木 is the meaning part and 冘 the sound part.

Open 枕 →

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

  • 大大dàlarge
  • 長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Open 套 →

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