双氧水 (shuāng yǎng shuǐ) — hydrogen peroxide solution

Definition

noun
hydrogen peroxide solution

Examples

  • 双氧水。
    Yī shēng yòng shuāng yǎng shuǐ gěi shāng kǒu xiāo dú.
    The doctor used hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wound.
  • 双氧水。
    Zhè píng shuāng yǎng shuǐ de nóng dù shì bǎi fēn zhī sān.
    The concentration of this bottle of hydrogen peroxide is three percent.
  • 双氧水。
    Xǐ yī fu shí jiā yì diǎn shuāng yǎng shuǐ kě yǐ piǎo bái.
    Adding a little hydrogen peroxide when washing clothes can bleach them.

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.

双氧double oxygen
双shuāngdouble氧yǎngoxygen
偏正Modifier + head

双氧 points to two oxygen atoms, and 水 is the liquid solution.

Characters in this word

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

双 is made of two 又 parts side by side. Repeating 又 gives the sense of a pair.

Open 双 →

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
气气qìgas
Sound part声符shēngfú
養
養yǎng氧yǎng
Same sound today

氧 pairs 气 (gas) with 養 (to nourish), and 養 gives the sound yǎng.

Open 氧 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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