埃及 (Aī jí) — Egypt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Egypt

Examples

埃及。
Aī jí Shì yí gè lì shǐ yōu jiǔ de guó jiā.
Egypt is a country with a long history.
埃及。
Wǒ xiǎng qù Aī jí kàn jīn zì tǎ.
I want to go to Egypt to see the pyramids.
埃及。
Tā qù nián zài Aī jí lǚ xíng le yí gè yuè.
He traveled in Egypt for a month last year.

Origin

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.

土矣埃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth; soil

Sound part声符shēngfú

矣

矣yǐ埃āi

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

The 土 side of 埃 relates to earth or soil, while 矣 gives the sound.

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

人人rénperson
又又yòuhand

及 pairs 人 (person) with 又 (hand), showing a hand grabbing a person.

Appears in

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