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流星 (liú xīng) — meteor; shooting star; meteor hammer (historical weapon); meteors (acrobatic performance)

Definition

A 'meteor' or 'shooting star' — the streak of light seen in the night sky when space debris burns up. At HSK 7 the historical weapon and acrobatic senses are also covered, but the everyday meaning is the streaking light people wish on.

noun
meteorshooting starmeteor hammer (historical weapon)meteors (acrobatic performance)
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • 流星。
    Zuó wǎn wǒ kàn dào yì kē liú xīng huá guò tiān kōng.
    Last night I saw a meteor streak across the sky.
  • 流星。
    Rén men cháng duì zhe liú xīng xǔ yuàn.
    People often make wishes on shooting stars.
  • 流星。
    Zhè kē liú xīng fēi cháng míng liàng.
    This meteor is very bright.

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.

流liúflowing
星xīngstar

流 gives flowing or streaming and 星 gives star, so together they name a streaming star.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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

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

Open 星 →
Appears in
Sky & Space

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