彩虹 (cǎi hóng) — rainbow | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

彩虹 is the concrete noun 'rainbow' — a specific thing in the sky. 彩色 is the abstract/color-related noun for 'color/colorful appearance'; don't confuse the two.

noun

rainbow

Measure word · 道

Examples

彩虹。
Zuó tiān wǒ kàn dào le yí dào měi lì de cǎi hóng.
Yesterday I saw a beautiful rainbow.
彩虹。
Hái zi men kàn dào cǎi hóng shí dōu gāo xìng dì tiào le qǐ lái.
When the children saw the rainbow, they all jumped with joy.
彩虹，。
cǎi hóng Cháng cháng zài yǔ hòu chū xiàn, gěi tiān kōng zēng tiān sè cǎi.
Rainbows often appear after rain, adding color to the sky.

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.

虹hóngrainbow

“彩” means color, “虹” means rainbow; together they name the colored arc in the sky.

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.

采彡彩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

采

采cǎi彩cǎi

Same sound today

彩 puts 采, which gives the sound, next to 彡, the three-stroke mark that carries the meaning.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

虫工虹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

虫虫chónginsect; creature

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng虹hóng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The earliest form drew a two-headed dragon; later 虹 used 虫 (creature) to show it was a creature and 工 for sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Weather

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