冒号 (mào hào) — colon (punctuation mark :)

Definition

noun

colon (punctuation mark :)

冒号。
Zhè ge jù zi hòu miàn yào yòng mào hào.
This sentence needs a colon after it.
，冒号。
Xiě zuò wén shí, mào hào biǎo shì hòu miàn de nèi róng.
When writing an essay, a colon indicates the content that follows.
冒号。
Nǐ kě yǐ zài liè biǎo qián jiā yí gè mào hào.
You can add a colon before a list.

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.

冒màoemit; bring out

冒 suggests emitting or bringing out, and 号 names a mark, so 冒号 marks what follows.

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.

冃目冒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mùeyes

Sound part声符shēngfú

冃

冃mào冒mào

Same sound today

冒 was built from 冃, a hat used for the sound, plus 目, eyes, as the meaning part.

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

口丂号

The shape 号 comes from 口, a mouth, and 丂, exhaled air or a tiger's cry.