囚笼 (qiú lóng) — cage for prisoners; prisoner's cage

Definition

noun
cage for prisonersprisoner's cage
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 囚笼。
    Zhè ge qiú lóng guān zhe yí gè fàn rén.
    This cage holds a prisoner.
  • 囚笼。
    Gǔ dài de qiú lóng fēi cháng jiān gù.
    Ancient cages were very sturdy.
  • 囚笼。
    Tā bèi guān zài le yí gè tiě qiú lóng lǐ.
    He was locked in an iron cage.

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.

囚qiúprisoner
笼lóngcage

囚笼 combines 囚 (prisoner) with 笼 (cage), meaning a cage for prisoners.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 囗囗wéibox, enclosure
  • 人人rénperson

囚 puts 人 (person) inside 囗 (box, enclosure), making a person enclosed, hence prisoner.

Open 囚 →

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 籠; 笼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
𥫗Written in full as竹zhú
Sound part声符shēngfú
龍
龍lóng籠lóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 籠 is built from 竹 (bamboo) and 龍, which gives the sound. The simplified 笼 is a later shorthand.

Open 笼 →

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