分离器 (fēn lí qì) — separator (device that separates mixtures into components)

Definition

noun
separator (device that separates mixtures into components)
Measure word · 台

Examples

  • 分离器。
    Zhè ge fēn lí qì kě yǐ bǎ yóu hé shuǐ fèn kāi.
    This separator can separate oil and water.
  • 分离器。
    Niú nǎi fàng jìn fēn lí qì lǐ jiù néng dé dào nǎi yóu.
    Put milk into the separator and you can get cream.
  • 分离器。
    Gōng chǎng xū yào ān zhuāng xīn de fēn lí qì shè bèi.
    The factory needs to install new separator equipment.

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.

分离separate
分fēndivide离líleave
联合Side by side
器qìdevice

分离 as separate and 器 as device combine to name a device that separates mixtures.

Characters in this word

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

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

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 離; 离 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
离
离lí離lí
Same sound today

The traditional form 離 pairs 隹, a bird, with the sound part 离; the simplified 离 is a shorthand. This form first wrote a black-naped oriole, and the sound was borrowed for 'leave'.

Open 离 →

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 →

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