雪白 (xuě bái) — snow-white, snowy white | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

snow-whitesnowy white

Examples

雪白。
xuě bái De lí huā zài chūn tiān kāi fàng.
Snow-white pear blossoms bloom in spring.
雪白。
Zhè jiàn yī fu xǐ dé xuě bái.
This piece of clothing was washed snow-white.
雪白。
xuě bái De qiáng bì shàng guà zhe yì fú huà.
On the snow-white wall hangs a painting.

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.

雪 is snow and 白 is white; together they mean white like snow.

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

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

彗

彗huì雪xuě

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

雪 pairs 雨, showing rain, with 彗, giving the sound.

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Appears in

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