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检测器 (jiǎn cè qì) — detector

Definition

A device or instrument that detects something (smoke, gas, metal, etc.). The noun suffix 器 marks it as a physical tool, unlike the verb 检测.

noun
detector
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 检测器。
    Zhè ge jiǎn cè qì kě yǐ jiǎn cè dào yān wù.
    This detector can detect smoke.
  • 检测器。
    Jī chǎng de jiǎn cè qì xiǎng le qǐ lái.
    The detector at the airport went off.
  • 检测器。
    Ān zhuāng yí gè jiǎn cè qì néng tí gāo ān quán xìng.
    Installing a detector can improve safety.

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.

检测examine and measure
检jiǎnexamine测cèmeasure
联合Coordinate
器qìdevice

检测 combines 检 and 测, both about examining and measuring, and 器 names the device that performs it.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 檢; 检 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān檢jiǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 檢 pairs 木 (wood) with 僉 as a sound part; it may originally have pictured a blade on top of a wooden spear. The simplified 检 is a later shorthand.

Open 检 →

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 測; 测 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé測cè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 測 combines 氵 (water) with 則 for the sound; it is explained as measuring the depth of water. The simplified 测 is a later shorthand.

Open 测 →

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →
Appears in
Technology & Engineering

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