红褐色 (hóng hè sè) — reddish brown; dark red with a brownish tint

Definition

noun

reddish browndark red with a brownish tint

红褐色。
Qiū tiān de shù yè biàn chéng le hóng hè sè.
The autumn leaves turned a reddish brown.
红褐色。
Zhè jiàn wài tào de hóng hè sè hěn hǎo kàn.
The reddish-brown color of this coat is very nice.
红褐色。
Tā yòng hóng hè sè de yán liào huà le yì pǐ mǎ.
He used reddish-brown paint to draw a horse.

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.

红褐red-brown

联合Side by side

红 means red, 褐 means brown, and 色 means color; together they name a reddish-brown color.

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.

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

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.