秒表 (miǎo biǎo) — stopwatch

Definition

noun
stopwatch
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ,秒表。
    Bǐ sài qián, jiào liàn yòng miǎo biǎo jì shí.
    Before the race, the coach used a stopwatch to time it.
  • 秒表,。
    Tā àn le yí xià miǎo biǎo, kāi shǐ jì lù shí jiān.
    He pressed the stopwatch and started recording the time.
  • 秒表。
    Zhè ge miǎo biǎo kě yǐ jīng què dào bǎi fēn zhī yī miǎo.
    This stopwatch is accurate to one-hundredth of a second.

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.

秒miǎosecond
表biǎometer or watch

秒 means second and 表 means meter or watch, yielding a device that measures seconds.

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
禾禾hécereal; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
少
少shǎo秒miǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 秒 pairs 禾, a cereal or grain plant, with 少 giving the sound.

Open 秒 →

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

The shape 表 pairs 衣 (garment) with 毛 (hair or feather), originally an outer garment.

Open 表 →

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