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含羞草 (hán xiū cǎo) — sensitive plant; mimosa (Mimosa pudica)

Definition

noun
sensitive plantmimosa (Mimosa pudica)
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • 含羞草，。
    Wǒ qīng qīng pèng le yí xià hán xiū cǎo, tā de yè zi jiù hé shàng le.
    I gently touched the mimosa, and its leaves closed up.
  • 含羞草，。
    hán xiū cǎo De yè zi hěn mǐn gǎn, yí pèng jiù huì shōu qǐ lái.
    The leaves of the sensitive plant are very sensitive; they fold up as soon as they're touched.
  • 含羞草，。
    Huā yuán lǐ zhǒng le jǐ kē hán xiū cǎo, hái zi men dōu hěn xǐ huan.
    A few mimosa plants were planted in the garden, and the children really like 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.

含羞shy
含hánhold羞xiūshyness
动宾Verb + object
草cǎograss

“含” means hold, “羞” means shyness, and “草” means grass, naming the sensitive plant.

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kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
今
今jīn含hán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

含 is built from 口 (mouth) and 今 (jīn). The 口 part is about the mouth, while 今 gives the sound.

Open 含 →

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
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
丑
丑chǒu羞xiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

羞 is built from 羊, a sheep, as the meaning part, and 丑 for the sound.

Open 羞 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →
Appears in
Plants & Flowers

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