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蜜蜂 (mì fēng) — bee

Definition

noun
bee
Measure word · 只, 群
Easily confused

Examples

  • 蜜蜂。
    Yì zhī mì fēng tíng zài yì duǒ huā shàng.
    A bee lands on a flower.
  • 蜜蜂。
    Shù shàng yǒu yì qún mì fēng.
    There is a swarm of bees in the tree.
  • 蜜蜂。
    mì fēng Duì rén lèi hěn yǒu yòng.
    Bees are very useful to humans.

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.

蜜mìhoney
蜂fēngbee

蜜 means honey and 蜂 means bee, so the word names a honey-making bee.

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
虫虫chónginsect
Sound part声符shēngfú
宓
宓mì蜜mì
Same sound today

蜜 is built from 虫, an insect, and 宓, which gives the sound.

Open 蜜 →

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
虫虫chónginsect
Sound part声符shēngfú
夆
夆páng蜂fēng
Same sound today

蜂 puts 虫, showing an insect, beside 夆, which gives its sound.

Open 蜂 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Insects5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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