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水库 (shuǐ kù) — reservoir

Definition

A 水库 is a man-made reservoir built to store water for irrigation, drinking, or power — unlike a natural 湖, it is constructed and managed as infrastructure.

noun
reservoir
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 水库。
    Wǒ jiā fù jìn yǒu yí zuò shuǐ kù.
    There is a reservoir near my home.
  • 水库。
    Zhè zuò shuǐ kù wèi nóng tián tí gōng guàn gài yòng shuǐ.
    This reservoir provides irrigation water for farmland.
  • 水库。
    shuǐ kù Lǐ de shuǐ kě yǐ yòng lái fā diàn.
    The water in the reservoir can be used to generate electricity.

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.

水shuǐwater
库kùstorehouse

“水” and “库” combine to name a storehouse or basin for holding water.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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 庫; 库 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
車
車jū庫kù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 庫 pairs 广 (building) with 車 (sound); the building part points to a storehouse. The simplified 库 is a later shorthand.

Open 库 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Geography & Landforms

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