船桅 (chuán wéi) — mast (of a ship)

Definition

noun
mast (of a ship)
Measure word · 根

Examples

  • 船桅。
    Zhè sōu chuán de chuán wéi hěn gāo.
    The mast of this ship is very tall.
  • 船桅。
    Shuǐ shǒu pá shàng chuán wéi jiǎn chá qí zhì.
    The sailor climbed up the mast to check the flag.
  • 船桅。
    Bào fēng yǔ bǎ chuán wéi chuī duàn le.
    The storm blew the mast down.

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.

船chuánship
桅wéimast

The 船 sense of ship specifies the 桅 as a ship's mast.

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →

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mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
危
危wēi桅wéi
Same sound today

桅 pairs 木, indicating a wooden object, with 危, which points to the pronunciation wēi.

Open 桅 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.