三角形 (sān jiǎo xíng) — triangle | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

triangle

Measure word · 个

Examples

三角形。
Zhè ge sān jiǎo xíng de miàn jī hěn róng yì jì suàn.
The area of this triangle is easy to calculate.
三角形。
Huà yí gè děng yāo sān jiǎo xíng xū yào liàng liǎng gè biān.
To draw an isosceles triangle, you need to measure two sides.
三角形。
Jǐng shì pái tōng cháng shì hóng sè sān jiǎo xíng de biāo zhì.
Warning signs usually have a red triangle symbol.

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.

三角three angles

三sānthree角jiǎoangle

偏正Modifier + head

三角 names three angles and 形 names a shape, so it means a triangle.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

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

The form 角 is a picture of a horn.

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

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

井

井jǐng形xíng

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

形 is made from 彡 and 井, with 井 providing the sound.

Appears in

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