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大粪 (dà fèn) — night soil; excrement (used especially as fertilizer)

Definition

Refers to human excrement collected and used as fertilizer (night soil). It is a somewhat blunt, rural/colloquial term — in formal or general writing 粪便 is preferred.

noun
night soilexcrement (used especially as fertilizer)

Examples

  • 大粪。
    Nóng mín yòng dà fèn zuò féi liào.
    Farmers use night soil as fertilizer.
  • ，大粪。
    Zài nóng cūn, dà fèn bèi dàng zuò yǒu jī féi liào shǐ yòng.
    In the countryside, night soil is used as organic fertilizer.
  • 大粪。
    Zhè zhǒng huā kě yǐ yòng dà fèn lái shī féi.
    This kind of flower can be fertilized with night soil.

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.

大dàbig
粪fènfeces

The sense of 大 as large or thick joins 粪 to name accumulated excrement, especially night soil.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 糞; 粪 is its simplified writing.

  • 釆釆biàn
  • 𠦒𠦒𠦒
  • 廾廾gǒng

The traditional form 糞 is built from 釆, 𠦒, and 廾; the simplified 粪 is a later abbreviation.

Open 粪 →
Appears in
Agriculture & Farming

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