气旋 (qì xuán) — cyclone | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cyclone

Examples

气旋。
Zhè ge qì xuán zhèng zài xiàng dōng běi fāng xiàng yí dòng.
This cyclone is moving northeast.
气旋。
Rè dài qì xuán zài tài píng yáng shàng xíng chéng.
Tropical cyclones form over the Pacific Ocean.
气旋。
qì xuán Dài lái de qiáng fēng zào chéng le hěn duō pò huài.
The strong winds brought by the cyclone caused a lot of damage.

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.

气 means air and 旋 means whirl: a whirling mass of air.

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

气米氣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

气qì氣qì

Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

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

㫃㫃㫃flag
止止zhǐfoot
〇〇língcircle

旋 combines 㫃 (a flag), 止 (a foot), and 〇 (a circle), and 〇 also gave the sound.

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