钢化玻璃 (gāng huà bō li) — toughened glass, tempered glass

Definition

noun
toughened glasstempered glass
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 钢化玻璃。
    Zhè zhǒng gāng huà bō li bǐ pǔ tōng bō li jiē shi dé duō.
    This kind of toughened glass is much stronger than ordinary glass.
  • 钢化玻璃，。
    Shǒu jī píng mù yòng de shì gāng huà bō li, bù róng yì suì.
    The phone screen uses tempered glass, so it's not easy to break.
  • 钢化玻璃。
    Qì chē chuāng hu de gāng huà bō li zài pèng zhuàng shí huì suì chéng xiǎo kē lì.
    The tempered glass in car windows shatters into small granules upon impact.

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.

钢化toughen
钢gāngsteel化huàbecome
玻璃glass
玻bō璃lí

钢化 describes 玻璃 made tough like steel, yielding tempered glass.

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 鋼; 钢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
岡
岡gāng鋼gàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 鋼 shows 金, meaning metal, next to 岡, which carries the sound gāng; the simplified 钢 is a later shorthand.

Open 钢 →

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 玻 →

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
王Written in full as玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
离
离lí璃
Same sound today

In 璃, the left side 王 is jade, written in full as 玉, and the right side 离 gives the sound lí.

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