人造革 (rén zào gé) — artificial leather, synthetic leather

Definition

Man-made material designed to imitate real leather — usually PU or PVC. Contrasts with 真皮 ('genuine leather'): 人造革 is cheaper and more uniform, 真皮 is more breathable and ages with a patina.

noun
artificial leathersynthetic leather
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 人造革，。
    Zhè ge bāo shì rén zào gé zuò de, bú shì zhēn pí.
    This bag is made of artificial leather, not real leather.
  • 。
    Qì chē zuò yǐ yòng rén zào gé jì pián yi yòu nài yòng.
    Car seats made of artificial leather are both cheap and durable.
  • 人造革，。
    Tā mǎi le yí tào rén zào gé shā fā, yán sè hěn hǎo kàn.
    She bought a set of artificial leather sofas in a nice color.

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.

人造made by people
人rénpeople造zàomake
主谓Subject + predicate
革géleather

The 人造 and 革 together mean leather made by people.

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 →

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
辵辵chuòto walk
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
屮
屮chè造zào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Its origin is unclear, but early forms of 造 include 辵 (to walk) and 口, with 屮 as a sound part, and mean go or arrive.

Open 造 →

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

革 is drawn as a stretched animal hide, with the upper part as the head and the lower part as the tail and legs.

Open 革 →

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