煤油 (méi yóu) — kerosene | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

kerosene

Examples

煤油。
Guò qù hěn duō jiā tíng yòng méi yóu lái diǎn dēng.
In the past, many households used kerosene to light lamps.
煤油。
Zhè zhǒng méi yóu de rán shāo xiào lǜ hěn gāo.
This type of kerosene has high combustion efficiency.
煤油。
Fēi jī shǐ yòng de rán liào bú shì pǔ tōng méi yóu.
The fuel used by airplanes is not ordinary kerosene.

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.

'煤' refers to coal and '油' to oil; together they name a coal-derived oil, kerosene.

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.

火某煤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

火火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

某

某mǒu煤méi

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

煤 puts 火 (fire) on the left and 某 on the right; the fire part relates to coal, and 某 gives the sound.

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

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

Energy & Power Materials & Substances

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