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彩车 (cǎi chē) — parade float; bridal car

Definition

A 彩车 is a decorated vehicle — either a parade float (游行用的彩车) or a wedding/bridal car (婚礼用的彩车), decorated with flowers and ornaments for the occasion.

noun
parade floatbridal car
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • ，彩车。
    Yóu xíng de shí hou, wǒ men kàn dào le hěn duō cǎi chē.
    During the parade, we saw many floats.
  • 彩车。
    Xīn niáng de cǎi chē shì bái sè de.
    The bride's car is white.
  • 彩车。
    Zhè liàng cǎi chē shì wèi hūn lǐ zhǔn bèi de.
    This decorated vehicle is prepared for the wedding.

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.

彩cǎidecorated
车chēvehicle

彩 decorated + 车 vehicle names a decorated vehicle or parade float.

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.

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.

Open 彩 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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