蚯蚓 (qiū yǐn) — earthworm | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

earthworm

Measure word · 条

，蚯蚓。
Yǔ hòu, dì shàng yǒu hěn duō qiū yǐn.
After rain, there are many earthworms on the ground.
蚯蚓。
Nóng mín yòng qiū yǐn lái sōng tǔ.
Farmers use earthworms to loosen soil.
蚯蚓。
Zhè tiáo qiū yǐn hěn cháng.
This earthworm is very long.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

蚯qiū

蚓yǐn

The characters 蚯 and 蚓 carry no meaning of their own here; together they name the earthworm.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

虫引蚓

Meaning part形符xíngfú

虫虫chónginsect; worm

Sound part声符shēngfú

引

Same sound today

蚓 pairs 虫 (insect; worm) with 引, where 虫 shows the worm-like meaning and 引 gives the sound.

Appears in