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乌贼 (wū zéi) — cuttlefish (a sea animal that releases ink when threatened)

Definition

noun
cuttlefish (a sea animal that releases ink when threatened)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 。
    Wū zéi shì yì zhǒng shēng huó zài hǎi yáng lǐ de ruǎn tǐ dòng wù.
    Cuttlefish are mollusks that live in the ocean.
  • 乌贼。
    wū zéi Yù dào wēi xiǎn shí huì pēn chū hēi sè de mò zhī.
    When in danger, a cuttlefish will squirt black ink.
  • 乌贼。
    Zhè jiā cān guǎn de kǎo wū zéi fēi cháng yǒu míng.
    This restaurant's grilled cuttlefish is very famous.

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.

乌wūblack
贼zéithief

乌 means black and 贼 means thief, so the name pictures a dark, thieving sea creature.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 烏; 乌 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 烏 is a drawing of a bird. The simplified 乌 is a later abbreviation.

Open 乌 →

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 賊; 贼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēweapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
則
則zé賊zéi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 賊 combines 戈, a weapon, with 則 to give the pronunciation; the simplified 贼 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 贼 →
Appears in
Fish & Aquatic Life

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