汽化 (qì huà) — to vaporize | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Technical/scientific verb meaning 'to vaporize' — a liquid turning into gas. Often paired with 液化 ('to liquefy'), its opposite phase-change process.

verb

to vaporize

Easily confused

100汽化。
Shuǐ zài 100 shè shì dù shí kāi shǐ qì huà.
Water begins to vaporize at 100 degrees Celsius.
汽化。
Yè tài dàn zài shì wēn xià huì xùn sù qì huà.
Liquid nitrogen vaporizes quickly at room temperature.
汽化，。
Zhè zhǒng wù zhì jiā rè hòu zhí jiē qì huà, bù jīng guò yè tài.
This substance vaporizes directly when heated, without passing through a liquid state.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

汽 names vapor, and 化 adds the sense of becoming vapor.

Characters in this word

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

氵气汽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

Same sound today

The 氵 part is water, and 气 is used for the sound and also means air, so 汽 shows water in an air-like form.

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.