毒菌 (dú jūn) — poisonous fungus or bacteria

Definition

Literary/scientific term for poisonous fungus (the family of mushrooms, molds, and toadstools). 菌 is the biological classifier-anchor 'fungus/microbe'; 毒 marks it as toxic.

noun
poisonous fungus or bacteria
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 毒菌，。
    Zhè zhǒng mó gu shì dú jūn, bù néng chī.
    This mushroom is a poisonous fungus — you can't eat it.
  • 毒菌。
    Zhè zhǒng dú jūn huì ràng rén zhòng dú.
    This type of poisonous bacteria can make people ill.
  • ，毒菌。
    Zài sēn lín lǐ, yào xiǎo xīn biàn rèn dú jūn.
    In the forest, be careful to identify poisonous fungi.

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.

毒dúpoisonous
菌jūnfungus/bacteria

'毒' means poisonous and '菌' means fungus or bacterium, together 'poisonous fungus/bacteria'.

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.

Open 毒 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
囷
囷qūn菌jūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艹 is a plant sign, and the lower 囷 gives the sound.

Open 菌 →

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