萤火虫 (yíng huǒ chóng) — firefly; lightning bug; glowworm | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fireflylightning bugglowworm

Measure word · 只

Examples

，萤火虫。
Xià tiān de wǎn shàng, wǒ cháng cháng kàn dào yíng huǒ chóng fēi lái fēi qù.
On summer evenings, I often see fireflies flying about.
萤火虫。
Xiǎo péng yǒu men dōu xǐ huan zhuō yíng huǒ chóng wán.
Children all like to catch fireflies and play with them.
萤火虫，。
yíng huǒ chóng De guāng hěn piào liang, xiàng tiān shàng de xīng xing.
The light of fireflies is very beautiful, like stars in the sky.

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.

萤火firefly light

萤yíngfirefly火huǒlight

偏正Modifier + head

虫chónginsect

萤火 suggests the firefly's glowing light, and 虫 names it as an insect.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟲; 虫 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 蟲 is the one the reference discusses; 虫 is also a traditional character on its own.

Appears in

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