猩红 (xīng hóng) — scarlet | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

scarlet

Examples

猩红。
Tā chuān zhuó yì tiáo xīng hóng de qún zi.
She was wearing a scarlet dress.
，猩红。
Nà tiān bàng wǎn, tiān biān chū xiàn le xīng hóng de wǎn xiá.
That evening, a scarlet sunset appeared on the horizon.
猩红。
Zhè zhǒng huā de huā bàn shì xīng hóng sè de.
The petals of this flower are scarlet.

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.

猩xīngorangutan

猩 points to the source of the hue, and 红 names the color, yielding scarlet.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng紅hóng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

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