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腹股沟 (fù gǔ gōu) — groin

Definition

noun
groin

Examples

  • 腹股沟。
    Tā pǎo bù shí fù gǔ gōu tū rán hěn téng.
    His groin suddenly hurt a lot while he was running.
  • 腹股沟。
    Yī shēng zǐ xì jiǎn chá le tā de fù gǔ gōu.
    The doctor carefully examined his groin.
  • 腹股沟。
    fù gǔ gōu Shòu shāng hòu yào bì miǎn jù liè yùn dòng.
    After a groin injury, you should avoid strenuous exercise.

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.

腹股abdomen and thigh
腹fùabdomen股gǔthigh
联合Coordinate
沟gōugroove

腹 is the belly, 股 the thigh, and 沟 the groove; the name points to the groove between them.

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ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù腹⁰fù
Same sound today

The left part 肉, meaning flesh, shows this is a body part, and the right part 复 gives the sound.

Open 腹 →

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

In 股, the left 肉 marks the body. The right side, now written 殳, comes from 夃, an old form for thigh, and gives the sound.

Open 股 →

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 溝; 沟 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
冓
冓gòu溝gōu
Same sound today

The traditional form 溝 pairs 氵 (water) with 冓 for the sound; the simplified 沟 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

Open 沟 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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