毒性 (dú xìng) — toxicity | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

toxicity

毒性。
Zhè zhǒng huà xué wù zhì de dú xìng fēi cháng gāo.
The toxicity of this chemical is very high.
，毒性。
Yán jiū fā xiàn, zhè zhǒng zhí wù de dú xìng hěn dī.
Research found that the toxicity of this plant is very low.
毒性，。
Zhè zhǒng yào wù yǒu hěn qiáng de dú xìng, bù néng suí biàn yòng.
This medicine has strong toxicity and cannot be used casually.

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.

“毒” means poison and “性” means nature, together giving toxicity.

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

屮屮chèvegetation

Sound part声符shēngfú

毐

毐ǎi毒dú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

忄生性

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

生

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Appears in