内燃机 (nèi rán jī) — internal combustion engine | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A technical noun for an 'internal combustion engine' — the kind of engine that burns fuel inside itself to drive a vehicle. Contrast with 电动机, which runs on electricity rather than combustion.

noun

internal combustion engine

Measure word · 台

Examples

内燃机。
Zhè liàng qì chē de nèi rán jī shì chái yóu qū dòng de.
This car's internal combustion engine is diesel-powered.
内燃机。
nèi rán jī De fā míng tuī dòng le gōng yè gé mìng.
The invention of the internal combustion engine drove the Industrial Revolution.
内燃机。
Lǎo shì nèi rán jī xiàn zài yǐ jīng bèi diàn dòng jī qǔ dài le.
Old-style internal combustion engines have now been replaced by electric motors.

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.

内燃combustion inside

内nèiinside燃ránburn

偏正Modifier + head

机jīengine

内燃 describes combustion inside, and 机 names the engine.

Characters in this word

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

入入rùto enter
冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

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

火然燃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

火火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

然

然rán燃rán

Same sound today

燃 adds 火 (fire) to 然 to write “burn”; 然 supplied the sound, and 火 was added to make the fire meaning clear.

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

木几机

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree; wood

Sound part声符shēngfú

几

几jǐ机jī

Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

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