TongTong
Sign in

仙人掌 (xiān rén zhǎng) — cactus

Definition

noun
cactus
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • 仙人掌。
    Zhè pén xiān rén zhǎng shì wǒ zài huā diàn mǎi de.
    This potted cactus is what I bought at the flower shop.
  • 仙人掌。
    Shā mò lǐ yǒu hěn duō xiān rén zhǎng.
    There are many cacti in the desert.
  • 仙人掌，。
    xiān rén zhǎng De cì hěn jiān, yào xiǎo xīn.
    The spines of a cactus are very sharp; you need to be careful.

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.

仙人immortal person
仙xiānimmortal人rénperson
偏正Modifier + head
掌zhǎngpalm

仙人 (immortal) and 掌 (palm) name the cactus as an immortal's palm.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

仙 pairs 亻 (person) with 山 (mountain), showing a person moving into a mountain to become immortal; 山 also gives the sound.

Open 仙 →

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng掌zhǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

It combines 手, meaning hand, with 尚, which gives it a sound close to shàng.

Open 掌 →
Appears in
Plants & Flowers

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.