叶片 (yè piàn) — leaf blade (of a plant); vane (of a turbine, fan, etc.)

Definition

Technical term for 'blade' — the flat part of a plant leaf, or a vane/blade in a turbine or fan. In botany it refers to the broadened blade (excluding the stalk).

noun
leaf blade (of a plant)vane (of a turbine, fan, etc.)
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 叶片。
    Zhè zhǒng zhí wù de yè piàn hěn dà.
    The leaf blades of this plant are very large.
  • 叶片。
    Fēng lì fā diàn jī de yè piàn zài kuài sù xuán zhuǎn.
    The blades of the wind turbine are spinning rapidly.
  • ，叶片。
    Qiū tiān, shù shàng de yè piàn kāi shǐ biàn huáng.
    In autumn, the leaf blades on the trees start to turn yellow.

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.

叶yèleaf
片piànpiece

叶 (leaf) and 片 (piece) form a flat part of a leaf or machine.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
十
十shí叶yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 叶 pairs 口 (mouth) with 十 (ten) as an old form meaning cooperate; it later came to mean leaf because it sounded similar.

Open 叶 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →

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