灶台 (zào tāi) — stove top; kitchen countertop around the stove

Definition

noun

stove topkitchen countertop around the stove

Measure word · 个

Easily confused

灶台。
Tā bǎ guō fàng zài zào tāi shàng.
She put the pot on the stove top.
灶台。
zào tāi Shàng bǎi mǎn le tiáo liào píng.
The stove top is covered with spice bottles.
灶台。
Qǐng bǎ zào tāi cā gān jìng.
Please wipe the stove top clean.

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.

台táiplatform

The 灶台 is the 台, platform or top, of a 灶, stove.

Characters in this word

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

火土灶

灶 combines 火 (fire) and 土 (soil), showing a fire built on the earth as a stove.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.