手术台 (shǒu shù tái) — operating table

Definition

noun

operating table

Measure word · 张

手术台。
Yī shēng zài shǒu shù tái shàng zuò shǒu shù.
The doctor is performing surgery on the operating table.
。
Hù shi bǎ bìng rén tuī dào shǒu shù tái páng biān.
The nurse pushed the patient next to the operating table.
手术台。
Zhè jiān shǒu shù shì yǒu liǎng zhāng shǒu shù tái.
This operating room has two operating tables.

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.

手术operation

偏正Modifier + head

手术 gives the medical operation, and 台 is the stand on which it is done.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

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 術; 术 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

行行xíngstreet, path

Sound part声符shēngfú

朮

朮zhú術shù

Same sound today

The traditional form 術 has 行 (street, path) beside 朮, which gives the sound; the simplified 术 is a later shorthand.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Appears in