水族 (Shuǐ zú) — (collective noun) aquatic animals, water-dwelling creatures; (noun) aquarium (short for 水族馆); (proper noun) Shui ethnic minority

Definition

水族 is a polysemous HSK 7 noun with three distinct senses: 'aquatic animals' (collective), short for 水族馆 ('aquarium'), and the Shui ethnic minority of Guizhou. Pronunciation and context disambiguate.

noun
(collective noun) aquatic animalswater-dwelling creaturesaquarium (short for 水族馆)(proper noun) Shui ethnic minority

Examples

  • 水族。
    Zhè ge shuǐ chí lǐ yǒu duō zhǒng Shuǐ zú.
    There are many kinds of aquatic animals in this pool.
  • 水族。
    Zhè jiā Shuǐ zú de qǐ é hěn shòu huān yíng.
    The penguins at this aquarium are very popular.
  • 水族。
    Zhōng guó guì zhōu shěng yǒu hěn duō Shuǐ zú rén.
    There are many Shui people in Guizhou Province, China.

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
族zúgroup/tribe

水 marks the water environment and 族 marks a group, giving aquatic creatures or a water people.

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 →

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

族 combines 㫃, a flag, and 矢, an arrow.

Open 族 →

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