同位素 (tóng wèi sù) — isotope | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

isotope

Measure word · 种

Examples

同位素。
Zhè zhǒng tóng wèi sù zài yī xué shàng hěn cháng yòng.
This isotope is commonly used in medicine.
同位素。
Kē xué jiā fā xiàn le xīn de tóng wèi sù.
Scientists discovered a new isotope.
-14同位素。
Tàn -14 shì yì zhǒng fàng shè xìng tóng wèi sù.
Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope.

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.

同位same position

同tóngsame位wèiposition

偏正Modifier + head

素sùelement

“同位” means same position and “素” means element, so the word denotes an isotope.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

立

立lì位wèi

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

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

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

The shape of 素 came from a picture of hands braiding thread.

Appears in

Physics & Chemistry

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