水星 (shuǐ xīng) — Mercury (planet) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Mercury (planet)

Measure word · 颗

Examples

水星。
shuǐ xīng Shì lí tài yáng zuì jìn de xíng xīng.
Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun.
水星。
Yòng wàng yuǎn jìng hěn nán kàn dào shuǐ xīng.
It's hard to see Mercury with a telescope.
水星。
Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū shuǐ xīng de biǎo miàn wēn dù.
Scientists are studying the surface temperature of Mercury.

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 means water, and 星 means star, so together they name the water star, Mercury.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

晶晶jīngtwinkling stars
生生shēng

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Appears in

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