棉布 (mián bù) — cotton cloth

Definition

noun
cotton cloth
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 棉布,。
    Zhè jiàn yī fu shì mián bù zuò de, chuān qǐ lái hěn shū fu.
    This piece of clothing is made of cotton cloth and feels very comfortable to wear.
  • 棉布。
    Xià tiān chuān mián bù de yī fu bǐ jiào tòu qì.
    Wearing cotton cloth clothes in summer is more breathable.
  • 棉布,。
    Zhè zhǒng mián bù zhì liàng hěn hǎo, bù róng yì qǐ zhòu.
    This kind of cotton cloth is of good quality and doesn't wrinkle easily.

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.

棉miáncotton
布bùcloth

棉 means cotton and 布 means cloth, so together they name cloth made from cotton.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 棉 →

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
巾巾jīnkerchief
Sound part声符shēngfú
父
父fù布bù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

布 pairs 巾, a kerchief, with 父 as a sound part.

Open 布 →

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