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人工授精 (rén gōng shòu jīng) — artificial insemination

Definition

noun
artificial insemination

Examples

  • 人工授精。
    rén gōng shòu jīng Kě yǐ bāng zhù yì xiē nǚ xìng huái yùn.
    Artificial insemination can help some women get pregnant.
  • 。
    Zhè jiā nóng chǎng yòng rén gōng shòu jīng lái tí gāo nǎi niú de zhì liàng.
    This farm uses artificial insemination to improve the quality of dairy cows.
  • 人工授精。
    rén gōng shòu jīng De chéng gōng lǜ qǔ jué yú duō zhǒng yīn sù.
    The success rate of artificial insemination depends on many factors.

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.

人工human-made
人rénhuman工gōngwork
偏正Modifier + head
授精insemination
授shòugive/inject精jīngsperm
动宾Verb + object

'人工' human-made and '授精' insemination combine to mean artificial insemination.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
受
受shòu授shòu
Same sound today

授 is built from 手 and 受. 受 gives the sound, and 手 is a hand.

Open 授 →

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng精jīng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

精 pairs 米 (rice) with 青, which gives the sound; the character originally meant polished rice.

Open 精 →
Appears in
BiologyMedicine & Treatment

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