色盲 (sè máng) — color blindness; a person with color blindness

Definition

noun

color blindnessa person with color blindness

色盲。
Tā yīn wèi sè máng wú fǎ fēn biàn hóng lǜ dēng.
Because of color blindness, he cannot distinguish traffic lights.
色盲。
Zhè wèi sè máng huàn zhě zhǐ néng kàn dào huī sè diào.
This color-blind patient can only see shades of gray.
。
Tǐ jiǎn shí yī shēng fā xiàn tā yǒu sè máng.
The doctor discovered he has color blindness during the physical exam.

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.

盲mángblindness

色 is color and 盲 is blindness, so the term names the condition of not seeing colors normally.

Characters in this word

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

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亡目盲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

亡

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

盲 is made from 目, meaning “eye”, plus 亡, which gives the sound. The eye part relates to the meaning of blindness.