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黑盒子 (hēi hé zǐ) — flight recorder (colloquial term for the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder); black box (any system or process whose internal workings are hidden or not understood)

Definition

Colloquial term for an aircraft's flight data and voice recorder (literally 'black box,' though the device is usually orange). Widely used in tech and science for any system whose internal workings are hidden or not understood.

noun
flight recorder (colloquial term for the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder)black box (any system or process whose internal workings are hidden or not understood)

Examples

  • ，黑盒子。
    Fēi jī shī shì hòu, diào chá rén yuán zhǎo dào le hēi hé zǐ.
    After the plane crash, investigators found the black box.
  • 黑盒子，。
    Zhè ge suàn fǎ jiù xiàng yí gè hēi hé zǐ, wǒ men bù zhī dào tā nèi bù zěn me yùn zuò.
    This algorithm is like a black box; we don't know how it works internally.
  • 黑盒子。
    hēi hé zǐ Jì lù le fēi xíng yuán de duì huà hé fēi xíng shù jù.
    The black box records the pilots' conversations and flight data.

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.

黑hēiblack
盒子
盒hébox子zǐword ending

黑 gives black, and 盒子 names a box, together a hidden black box.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 盒 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
Air Travel

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