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胶水 (jiāo shuǐ) — glue; adhesive

Definition

A countable noun for a bottle or type of glue you apply to surfaces. Pairs with 粘 ('to stick/glue' — the action); 胶带 is adhesive tape, not liquid glue.

noun
glueadhesive

Examples

  • 胶水。
    Tā mǎi le yì zhǒng xīn de jiāo shuǐ.
    He bought a new type of glue.
  • 胶水。
    Qǐng bǎ jiāo shuǐ tú zài mù tou shàng.
    Please apply the glue to the wood.
  • 胶水。
    Zhè píng jiāo shuǐ yǐ jīng gān le.
    This bottle of glue has already dried.

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.

胶jiāoadhesive
水shuǐwater

胶 means adhesive and 水 means water, naming a liquid adhesive.

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 膠; 胶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
翏
翏liù膠jiāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 膠 pairs ⺼ (meat; flesh) with 翏, which gives the sound.

Open 胶 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Materials & SubstancesMiscellaneous Objects

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