染发剂 (rǎn fà jì) — hair dye, hair colorant

Definition

noun

hair dyehair colorant

Measure word · 种

，染发剂。
Tā xiǎng huàn yí gè fā sè, jiù qù mǎi le yì píng rǎn fà jì.
She wanted to change her hair color, so she went and bought a bottle of hair dye.
染发剂，。
Zhè zhǒng rǎn fà jì bù hán ān, duì tóu fa shāng hài jiào xiǎo.
This kind of hair dye doesn't contain ammonia, so it's less damaging to hair.
染发剂。
Yòng rǎn fà jì zhī qián zuì hǎo xiān zuò guò mǐn cè shì.
It's best to do an allergy test before using hair dye.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

染发dye hair

动宾Verb + object

染发 colors hair, and 剂 denotes a preparation, so it names a hair-dye agent.

Characters in this word

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

氵九木染

染 combines 氵 (water), 九 (hook), and 木 (tree): something hung on a hook from a tree into water to dye it.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

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 劑; 剂 is its simplified writing.

齊刂劑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刂Written in full as刀dāo

Sound part声符shēngfú

齊

齊qí劑jì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 劑, 齊 gives the sound and 刂 (刀, a knife) shows the meaning. The simplified 剂 is a later shorthand.