无机物 (wú jī wù) — inorganic substance, inorganic matter

Definition

In chemistry, 无机物 refers to compounds that generally do not contain carbon–hydrogen bonds (e.g. water, salt), contrasted with 有机物. Most inorganic substances are derived from non-living matter like minerals.

noun

inorganic substanceinorganic matter

Examples

无机物。
wú jī wù Hé yǒu jī wù shì huà xué zhōng de liǎng dà lèi wù zhì.
Inorganic and organic substances are the two major categories in chemistry.
、无机物。
Shuǐ, èr yǎng huà tàn hé yán dū shì cháng jiàn de wú jī wù.
Water, carbon dioxide, and salt are all common inorganic substances.
无机物。
Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū zhè zhǒng xīn xíng wú jī wù de tè xìng.
Scientists are studying the properties of this new type of inorganic substance.

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.

无机inorganic

无wúnot机jīorganic

偏正Modifier + head

物wùmatter

无机 is the chemistry term for inorganic, and 物 means matter, so this names an inorganic substance.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

木几机

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree; wood

Sound part声符shēngfú

几

几jǐ机jī

Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

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