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云梯 (yún tī) — scaling ladder (used in ancient siege warfare); firefighting ladder

Definition

云梯 is a long extendable ladder — historically a scaling ladder leaned against city walls in siege warfare, today a firefighting ladder on a truck. The measure word 架 matches a rigid, frame-like object.

noun
scaling ladder (used in ancient siege warfare)firefighting ladder
Measure word · 架

Examples

  • ，云梯。
    Gǔ dài gōng chéng shí, shì bīng yòng yún tī pá shàng chéng qiáng.
    In ancient siege warfare, soldiers used scaling ladders to climb the city walls.
  • 云梯。
    Xiāo fáng yuán yòng yún tī cóng gāo lóu jiù chū le bèi kùn de rén.
    The firefighters used a ladder to rescue the trapped people from the tall building.
  • 云梯，。
    Zhè zhǒng yún tī kě yǐ shēn suō, fēi cháng fāng biàn.
    This type of ladder is extendable and very convenient.

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.

云yúncloud
梯tīladder

云 evokes clouds, and 梯 is a ladder, so the image is a ladder tall enough to reach the clouds.

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 雲; 云 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 雲 is 雨 (rain) plus 云; 云 was the original writing for 'cloud', and 雨 was added to separate it from the borrowed sense 'to say'.

Open 云 →

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
木木mùwood, tree
Sound part声符shēngfú
弟
弟dì梯tī
Same sound today

梯 puts 木 (wood/tree) beside 弟, which gives the sound, to write a wooden ladder.

Open 梯 →
Appears in
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