牛皮纸 (niú pí zhǐ) — kraft paper | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

kraft paper

Measure word · 张

牛皮纸。
Wǒ yòng niú pí zhǐ bāo hǎo le lǐ wù.
I wrapped the gift with kraft paper.
牛皮纸。
Shè jì shī cháng zài niú pí zhǐ shàng huà cǎo tú.
Designers often sketch on kraft paper.
牛皮纸。
Zhè ge niú pí zhǐ xìn fēng hěn jiē shi.
This kraft paper envelope is very sturdy.

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.

牛皮ox hide

偏正Modifier + head

“牛皮” means ox hide and “纸” means paper, so the word names tough paper resembling hide.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

牛 is drawn as a bull's head, with two horns and two ears.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

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 紙; 纸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

氏

Same sound today

For 纸, the traditional form 紙 combines 糸 (silk) with 氏 (the sound part).