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脊椎骨 (jǐ zhuī gǔ) — vertebra; spine; backbone

Definition

noun
vertebraspinebackbone
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 脊椎骨，。
    Yī shēng jiǎn chá le tā de jǐ zhuī gǔ, fā xiàn méi yǒu shòu shāng.
    The doctor examined his spine and found no injury.
  • 脊椎骨。
    Rén de jǐ zhuī gǔ yóu sān shí duō kuài gǔ tou zǔ chéng.
    The human spine is made up of more than thirty bones.
  • 脊椎骨。
    Zhè zhī kǒng lóng de jǐ zhuī gǔ huà shí bǎo cún dé fēi cháng hǎo.
    The fossilized spine of this dinosaur is very well preserved.

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.

脊椎spine
脊jǐspine椎zhuīvertebra
联合Coordinate
骨gǔbone

脊 is the spine and 椎 is a vertebra; 骨 is bone, naming the bony part of the spine.

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
肉肉ròuflesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
朿
朿cì脊jǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The original drawing of 脊 showed a fish spine; later 肉 (flesh) was added to point to the meaning, while the upper 朿 part supplied the sound.

Open 脊 →

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
隹
隹zhuī椎zhuī
Same sound today

椎 combines 木 (tree) with 隹, which gives the sound zhuī; the idea is a piece of wood used to smash things, a hammer or mallet.

Open 椎 →

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ròu
Sound part声符shēngfú
冎
冎guǎ骨gǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The older form 冎 drew a bone; 肉, flesh, was added to make 骨.

Open 骨 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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