过滤 (guò lǜ) — to filter | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

过滤 is the broad, neutral 'to filter' — physical filtering (water, air) or figurative (email, data). 筛选 focuses on sifting candidates/materials to pick the best; 筛 is its informal root verb.

verb

to filter

Examples

过滤。
Zhè ge shuǐ hái méi yǒu guò lǜ guò.
This water hasn't been filtered yet.
过滤。
Kōng qì xū yào guò lǜ cái néng jìn rù shì nèi.
The air needs to be filtered before it can enter the room.
过滤。
Xì tǒng huì guò lǜ diào lā jī yóu jiàn.
The system will filter out spam emails.

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.

过guòthrough

滤lǜfilter

过 describes how 滤 works, letting something pass through, so the word means to filter.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi過guò

Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

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 濾; 滤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

慮

慮lǜ濾lǜ

Same sound today

The traditional form 濾 pairs 水, water, with 慮, which shows the sound lǜ; the simplified 滤 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Industry & Manufacturing

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