厘米 (lí mǐ) — centimeter | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Centimeter (cm). One-tenth of a 分米 and ten times a 毫米.

classifier

centimeter

厘米。
Zhè tiáo shéng zi cháng wǔ lí mǐ.
This rope is five centimeters long.
厘米。
Zhè ge hé zi kuān èr shí lí mǐ.
This box is twenty centimeters wide.
厘米。
Tā de qiān bǐ bǐ wǒ de cháng liǎng lí mǐ.
His pencil is two centimeters longer than mine.

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.

“厘” marks one hundredth and “米” is the meter, together naming a centimeter.

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 釐; 厘 is its simplified writing.

𠩺里釐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠩺

𠩺𠩺釐lí

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 釐 uses 里 as its meaning part and 𠩺 as its sound part; the simplified 厘 is a later shorthand.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

米 is a picture of rice kernels without husk, with the horizontal stroke as a bamboo sieve. It is unrelated to similar-looking grain characters.

Appears in