膝关节 (xī guān jiē) — knee joint

Definition

noun
knee joint
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 膝关节，。
    Tā de xī guān jiē shòu shāng le, bù néng zǒu lù.
    His knee joint is injured and he can't walk.
  • 膝关节。
    Pǎo bù qián yào zuò hǎo xī guān jiē de rè shēn yùn dòng.
    Before running, do warm-up exercises for the knee joint.
  • 膝关节，。
    Yī shēng jiǎn chá le tā de xī guān jiē, shuō méi yǒu dà wèn tí.
    The doctor examined his knee joint and said there's no major problem.

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.

膝xīknee
关节joint
关guānconnection节jiésegment
联合Side by side

膝 names the knee, and 关节 names a joint, giving knee joint.

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body
Sound part声符shēngfú
桼
桼qī膝xī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 膝, ⺼ is the body form of 肉, marking a body part, and 桼 gives the sound.

Open 膝 →

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →

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 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →

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