白磷 (bái lín) — white phosphorus | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

white phosphorus

白磷。
bái lín Shì yì zhǒng huà xué wù zhì.
White phosphorus is a chemical substance.
白磷。
bái lín Zài kōng qì zhōng huì zì rán.
White phosphorus will spontaneously ignite in air.
白磷。
Shí yàn shí yào xiǎo xīn chǔ lǐ bái lín.
Be careful when handling white phosphorus in experiments.

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.

磷línphosphorus

白 gives the white color and 磷 names phosphorus, together meaning white phosphorus.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

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

石粦磷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

石石shístone

Sound part声符shēngfú

粦

粦lín磷lín

Same sound today

磷 is built from 石 (stone) and 粦, which provides the sound.