水生 (shuǐ shēng) — aquatic (living or growing in water)

Definition

adjective
aquatic (living or growing in water)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 水生。
    Zhè zhǒng shuǐ shēng zhí wù kě yǐ zài shēn shuǐ lǐ shēng cún.
    This kind of aquatic plant can survive in deep water.
  • 水生。
    Xǔ duō shuǐ shēng dòng wù dōu yǒu sāi lái hū xī.
    Many aquatic animals have gills for breathing.
  • 水生。
    Zhè ge hú lǐ yǒu jǐ shí zhǒng shuǐ shēng shēng wù.
    There are dozens of aquatic species in this lake.

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
生shēnggrow

水 'water' and 生 'grow' combine to mean living 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.

Open 水 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.