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两性 (liǎng xìng) — both sexes, male and female (often in social or biological contexts); (chemistry) amphoteric property or substance; bisexuality

Definition

Used in three distinct domains: 'both sexes / male and female' in social contexts, 'amphoteric' in chemistry, and 'bisexuality' as an orientation. The meaning depends entirely on the field.

noun
both sexesmale and female (often in social or biological contexts)(chemistry) amphoteric property or substancebisexuality

Examples

  • ，两性。
    Xiàn dài shè huì zhōng, rén men de liǎng xìng guān niàn yǐ jīng fā shēng le hěn dà biàn huà.
    In modern society, people's concepts of gender relations have undergone great changes.
  • 两性。
    Qīng yǎng huà lǚ shì yì zhǒng diǎn xíng de liǎng xìng wù zhì.
    Aluminum hydroxide is a typical amphoteric substance.
  • 两性。
    Tā yǒng gǎn dì gōng kāi le zì jǐ de liǎng xìng qǔ xiàng.
    He bravely came out about his bisexuality.

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.

两liǎngboth
性xìngsex

两 (both) and 性 (sex) combine to mean both sexes, male and female.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →
Appears in
Biology

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