废品 (fèi pǐn) — scrap, discarded material, rejects | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

废品 is scrap or rejects from production — material meant for recycling, not general garbage. For substandard goods, use 次品; 废物 is broader 'waste' and can also insult a person.

noun

scrapdiscarded materialrejects

Measure word · 个

Examples

废品。
Gōng chǎng lǐ de fèi pǐn kě yǐ huí shōu lì yòng.
The scrap in the factory can be recycled.
废品。
Tā bǎ zhè xiē fèi pǐn mài gěi le huí shōu zhàn.
He sold these rejects to the recycling station.
废品。
Zhè xiē fèi pǐn dōu shì bù hé gé de chǎn pǐn.
These rejects are all substandard products.

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.

废fèidiscarded

品pǐnproduct

“废” (discarded) and “品” (product) combine to mean worthless or rejected products.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 廢; 废 is its simplified writing.

广發廢

Meaning part形符xíngfú

广广guǎnghouse

Sound part声符shēngfú

發

發fā廢fèi

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

The traditional form 廢 shows 广 as a house and 發 as the sound.

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

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Cleaning & Chores

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