信风 (xìn fēng) — (meteorology) trade wind

Definition

noun
(meteorology) trade wind

Examples

  • 信风。
    Chì dào fù jìn de xìn fēng cháng nián wěn dìng dì xiàng xī chuī.
    The trade winds near the equator blow steadily westward all year round.
  • 信风。
    Gǔ dài háng hǎi jiā lì yòng xìn fēng chuān yuè dà yáng.
    Ancient navigators used the trade winds to cross the ocean.
  • 信风。
    xìn fēng De qiáng dù huì suí jì jié biàn huà.
    The intensity of the trade winds changes with the seasons.

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.

信xìntrustworthy

信 means trustworthy and 风 means wind, so the word names a reliably blowing wind.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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