噩梦 (è mèng) — nightmare | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

nightmare

Measure word · 场

Examples

噩梦。
Wǒ zuó wǎn zuò le yí gè kě pà de è mèng.
I had a terrible nightmare last night.
噩梦。
Zhè ge è mèng ràng wǒ zhěng wǎn méi shuì hǎo.
This nightmare kept me from sleeping well all night.
噩梦，。
Tā jīng cháng zuò è mèng, suǒ yǐ hěn hài pà shuì jiào.
He often has nightmares, so he's very afraid of sleeping.

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.

噩èterrible

“噩” gives a sense of terrible or ominous, and “梦” means dream, so the word is a terrible dream.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 夢; 梦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

瞢

瞢méng夢mèng

Same sound today

The traditional form 夢 pairs 夕 (night) with 瞢, which gives the sound; its older form showed a person lying with an eye emphasized.

Appears in

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