涡流 (wō liú) — eddy; whirlpool; vortex | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

eddywhirlpoolvortex

Examples

涡流。
Hé liú zhōng de wō liú huì juàn zǒu shù yè.
Eddies in the river can sweep away leaves.
涡流。
Gōng chéng shī fēn xī le guǎn dào nèi de wō liú xiàn xiàng.
The engineer analyzed the vortex phenomenon inside the pipe.
涡流。
Chuán yù dào wō liú shí fēi cháng wēi xiǎn.
It is very dangerous when a boat encounters a whirlpool.

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.

涡wōwhirlpool

涡 describes a whirlpool and 流 describes a current, giving whirling flow.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 渦; 涡 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi渦wō

Same sound today

The traditional form 渦 pairs 水 (water) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 涡 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

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.

Appears in

Physics & Chemistry

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