水球 (shuǐ qiú) — water polo | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

water polo

Measure word · 个

Examples

水球。
Tā xǐ huan dǎ shuǐ qiú.
He likes to play water polo.
水球。
Míng tiān yǒu yì chǎng shuǐ qiú bǐ sài.
There's a water polo match tomorrow.
水球。
Zhè ge shuǐ qiú duì de shí lì hěn qiáng.
This water polo team is very strong.

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" (water) and "球" (ball) form a ball game played in 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.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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