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仪器 (yí qì) — instrument; apparatus

Definition

仪器 (yíqì) is 'instrument/apparatus' — precise scientific, medical, or technical equipment, more specialized than the everyday 工具 ('tool'). Don't confuse the qì with 仪式 ('ceremony') or 器官 ('organ').

noun
instrumentapparatus
Measure word · 台
Easily confused

Examples

  • 仪器。
    Xiǎo wáng mǎi le yì tái jīng mì yí qì.
    Xiao Wang bought a precision instrument.
  • 仪器。
    Zhè tái yí qì kě yǐ yòng lái cè liáng wēn dù.
    This instrument can be used to measure temperature.
  • 仪器。
    Yī shēng yòng zhè zhǒng yí qì jiǎn chá bìng rén de xīn zàng.
    The doctor uses this kind of instrument to examine the patient's heart.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

仪yíinstrument
器qìdevice

仪 and 器 both refer to tools or apparatus, so 仪器 means instruments.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 儀; 仪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
義
義yì儀yí
Same sound today

In the traditional form 儀, the left part 亻 shows a person, and the right part 義 supplies the sound. This description is about 儀, not the simplified 仪.

Open 仪 →

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.

Open 器 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Technology & Engineering

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