暗黑 (àn hēi) — deep black, pitch-black, dark

Definition

verb
deep blackpitch-blackdark

Examples

  • 暗黑
    Yè wǎn de tiān kōng yí piàn àn hēi, kàn bú jiàn xīng xing.
    The night sky was pitch-black, with no stars visible.
  • 暗黑
    Zhè tiáo xiǎo xiàng zi méi yǒu lù dēng, zǒu jìn qù gǎn jué àn hēi yí piàn.
    This alley has no streetlights, so it feels completely dark when you walk in.
  • 暗黑
    Tā de fáng jiān lǐ hěn àn hēi, zhǐ yǒu diàn nǎo píng mù fā guāng.
    His room was very dark, with only the computer screen glowing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

àndark
hēiblack

暗 dark and 黑 black together mean pitch-dark.

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
sun
Sound part声符shēngfú
yīnàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

暗 pairs 日 (sun) with 音, which gives the sound.

Open 暗 →

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →
Appears in

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