烟尘 (yān chén) — smoke and dust; particulate matter; air polluti…

Definition

Literary compound for 'smoke and dust,' used both for air pollution and, in classical writing, as a metaphor for the chaos of war.

noun

smoke and dustparticulate matterair pollution(literary) the smoke and dust of warwar chaos

烟尘。
Chéng shì lǐ de yān chén wū rǎn yuè lái yuè yán zhòng.
Smoke and dust pollution in the city is getting worse.
烟尘。
Gǔ dài shī wén zhōng cháng yòng yān chén lái xíng róng zhàn luàn.
Ancient poetry and prose often use 'smoke and dust' to describe war.
烟尘。
Gōng chǎng pái fàng de yān chén yǐng xiǎng le jū mín de jiàn kāng.
The smoke and dust emitted by factories affected residents' health.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

烟尘" joins "烟" (smoke) and "尘" (dust), referring to smoke and dust, especially of battle.

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 煙; 烟 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 烟 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (烟) it is 煙; in others it is 菸.

火垔煙

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

垔

垔yīn煙yān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

This story is about the traditional form 煙, not the simplified 烟. It pairs 火, fire, with 垔, which gives the sound.

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

小土尘

In 尘, 小 (small) sits above 土 (earth), giving the idea of tiny bits of earth.

Appears in