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血红 (xuè hóng) — blood red (attributive only)

Definition

Literally 'blood red', this is a literary color word for a deep, vivid red — used in writing more than everyday speech, and almost always attributively (血红 + noun).

adjective
blood red (attributive only)

Examples

  • 血红。
    xuè hóng De xī yáng rǎn hóng le bàn biān tiān.
    The blood-red sunset dyed half the sky red.
  • ，血红。
    Tā zuǐ chún dòng dé fā zǐ, jī hū chéng le xuè hóng sè.
    His lips were frozen purple, almost turning blood-red.
  • 血红。
    Yí miàn xuè hóng de qí zhì zài fēng zhōng piāo yáng.
    A blood-red flag fluttered in the wind.

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.

血xuèblood
红hóngred

血 (blood) describes the deep shade of 红 (red), giving blood-red.

Characters in this word

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

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng紅hóng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

Open 红 →
Appears in
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