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水性 (shuǐ xìng) — swimming ability; how well someone can swim or handle themselves in water; physical characteristics (depth, currents, etc.) of a body of water; (derogatory, of women) fickle, lascivious (from 水性杨花; outdated and offensive)

Definition

Two main senses: 'swimming ability' (a person's skill in water) and 'water characteristics' (depth, currents, etc. of a body). The derogatory sense from 水性杨花 is archaic and offensive — do not use.

noun
swimming abilityhow well someone can swim or handle themselves in waterphysical characteristics (depth, currents, etc.) of a body of water(derogatory, of women) ficklelascivious (from 水性杨花; outdated and offensive)

Examples

  • 水性，。
    Tā de shuǐ xìng hěn hǎo, yóu dào duì àn dōu méi wèn tí.
    His swimming ability is excellent — he can swim to the other shore without any problem.
  • 水性，。
    Zhè piàn hú de shuǐ xìng hěn fù zá, jīng cháng yǒu àn liú.
    The water characteristics of this lake are very complex, often with undercurrents.
  • ，。
    Yòng shuǐ xìng lái xíng róng nǚ xìng dài yǒu biǎn yì, xiàn dài hàn yǔ zhōng hěn shǎo yòng le.
    Using '水性' to describe women is derogatory; it's rarely used in modern Chinese.

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
性xìngnature; property

水性 is the nature of water, so it can mean swimming ability or water's characteristics.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
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.

Open 性 →
Appears in
Fitness & Exercise

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