乘法 (chéng fǎ) — multiplication (arithmetic operation)

Definition

noun
multiplication (arithmetic operation)

Examples

  • 乘法。
    Jīn tiān lǎo shī jiào wǒ men zuò chéng fǎ yùn suàn.
    Today the teacher taught us to do multiplication calculations.
  • 乘法。
    chéng fǎ Shì jiā fǎ de jiǎn biàn suàn fǎ.
    Multiplication is a shortcut for addition.
  • 乘法。
    Bèi shú chéng fǎ kǒu jué duì shù xué hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
    Memorizing the multiplication table is very helpful for math.

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.

乘chéngmultiply
法fǎmethod

乘 (multiply) + 法 (method) names the operation of multiplication.

Characters in this word

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

乘 was drawn as a person climbing a tree, with the feet visible.

Open 乘 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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