触手 (chù shǒu) — tentacle | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

tentacle

Measure word · 条

触手。
Zhāng yú yǒu bā tiáo chù shǒu.
Octopuses have eight tentacles.
触手。
Shuǐ mǔ de chù shǒu hán yǒu dú yè.
Jellyfish tentacles contain venom.
触手。
Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū zhè zhǒng shēng wù de chù shǒu jié gòu.
Scientists are studying the tentacle structure of this organism.

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.

触手 is a 手 that 触, a touching hand.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 觸; 触 is its simplified writing.

角蜀觸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

蜀

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 觸 uses 角 for the meaning and 蜀 for the sound; the simplified 触 is a later shorthand.

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Appears in