眼屎 (yǎn shǐ) — gum or sleep (dried mucus) in the eyes

Definition

noun
gum or sleep (dried mucus) in the eyes

Examples

  • ，眼屎。
    Zǎo shàng qǐ lái, wǒ yǎn jing lǐ yǒu yǎn shǐ.
    When I wake up in the morning, I have eye discharge.
  • 眼屎，。
    Nǐ yǎn jiǎo yǒu yǎn shǐ, kuài cā diào.
    You have eye discharge at the corner of your eye, wipe it off quickly.
  • 眼屎。
    Xiǎo hái shuì xǐng hòu cháng cháng yǒu yǎn shǐ.
    Children often have eye discharge after waking up.

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.

眼yǎneye
屎shǐexcrement

眼 'eye' and 屎 'excrement' combine to name the dried secretion in the eye.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn眼yǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Open 眼 →

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

屎 pairs 尸 (body) with 米, which came from dots showing faeces coming out of the body.

Open 屎 →

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