嗅觉 (xiù jué) — sense of smell | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

嗅觉 (xiùjué) is the sense of smell — one of the five senses. Pairs with 味觉 ('taste') and 听觉 ('hearing'), and contrasts with 气味, which is the smell itself, not the ability to detect it.

noun

sense of smell

Examples

嗅觉，。
Tā de xiù jué fēi cháng líng mǐn, néng wén dào hěn yuǎn de wèi dào.
His sense of smell is very sharp; he can smell things from far away.
，嗅觉。
Jīng guò xùn liàn, gǒu de xiù jué kě yǐ bāng zhù xún zhǎo shī zōng de rén.
With training, a dog's sense of smell can help find missing people.
嗅觉，。
xiù jué Hé wèi jué cháng cháng yì qǐ gōng zuò, ràng nǐ xiǎng shòu měi shí.
The sense of smell and taste often work together to let you enjoy delicious food.

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.

嗅 (smell) and 觉 (sense) form the sense of smelling.

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.

口臭嗅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

臭

臭chòu嗅xiù

Same sound today

The left 口 (mouth) is the meaning part, and the right 臭 gives the sound.

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 覺; 觉 is its simplified writing.

𦥯見覺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

𦥯

𦥯𦥯覺jué

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

The traditional form 覺 pairs 見, a part that means see, with 𦥯, a part that gives the sound; simplified 觉 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Senses

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