指纹 (zhǐ wén) — fingerprint | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Finger-only — the print on your fingertip, as used in 手机 / 护照 / 门禁. 脚印 is the equivalent mark left by a foot (a track in the ground), not on the skin.

noun

fingerprint

Measure word · 枚

Examples

指纹。
Xiàn zài hěn duō shǒu jī dōu zhī chí zhǐ wén zhī fù.
Nowadays many phones support fingerprint payment.
指纹。
Gōng sī ān zhuāng le zhǐ wén mén jìn xì tǒng.
The company installed a fingerprint access control system.
指纹。
Bàn lǐ hù zhào shí xū yào lù rù zhǐ wén.
You need to record your fingerprints when applying for a passport.

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.

纹wénpattern

指 means finger and 纹 means pattern, together meaning the pattern on a finger.

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.

扌旨指

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

旨

旨zhǐ指zhǐ

Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

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 紋; 纹 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìthread

Sound part声符shēngfú

文

Same sound today

The traditional form 紋 pairs 糸 (thread) with 文 as the sound part, giving the sense of a line of thread; this note is about 紋, not 纹.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Body Parts 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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