翅膀 (chì bǎng) — wing | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Wing of a bird, insect, or other flying creature. 肩膀 is the 'shoulder' on a person — a different body part despite the shared 膀 character. 两翼 is the formal/literary term, often for both wings together or for flanks of an organization.

noun

wing

Measure word · 个, 对

Examples

翅膀。
Nà zhī xiǎo niǎo de chì bǎng shòu shāng le.
That little bird's wing was injured.
翅膀。
Hú dié de chì bǎng shàng yǒu měi lì de huā wén.
The butterfly's wings have beautiful patterns on them.
，翅膀。
Wǒ mǎi le yí duì gē zi, tā men de chì bǎng shì huī sè de.
I bought a pair of pigeons, and their wings are gray.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

翅 and 膀 both refer to wing parts; together they mean a wing.

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.

支羽翅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

羽羽yǔfeathers

Sound part声符shēngfú

支

支zhī翅chì

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

翅 uses 羽, meaning feathers, for the meaning and 支 for the sound. The 羽 part shows the character is about a wing or fin shape.

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

肉肉ròumeat; flesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

旁

旁páng膀pāng

Same sound today

The left part 肉 is flesh; the right part 旁 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Body Parts 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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