泰铢 (Tài zhū) — Thai baht (currency of Thailand)

Definition

classifier

Thai baht (currency of Thailand)

泰铢。
Zhè cì lǚ xíng wǒ huàn le wǔ qiān Tài zhū.
I exchanged five thousand Thai baht for this trip.
泰铢。
Yì wǎn miàn zhǐ yào wǔ shí Tài zhū.
A bowl of noodles costs only fifty baht.
泰铢。
Tā yòng Tài zhū fù le fáng fèi.
He paid the hotel bill in Thai baht.

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.

铢zhūbaht

泰 names Thailand, and 铢 is a baht unit, so 泰铢 is Thai currency.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

廾廾gǒngtwo hands

Sound part声符shēngfú

大

大dà泰tài

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

泰 combines 大 for sound with 廾 (two hands) and 水 (water), showing hands handling water or something slippery.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.