木雕 (mù diāo) — wood carving | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

wood carving

Measure word · 件

Examples

木雕。
Zhè jiàn mù diāo fēi cháng jīng měi.
This wood carving is very exquisite.
木雕。
Tā mǎi le yí gè mù diāo zuò wéi jì niàn pǐn.
He bought a wood carving as a souvenir.
木雕。
Zhè wèi yì shù jiā shàn cháng mù diāo.
This artist is skilled at wood carving.

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.

雕diāocarving

木 gives the material and 雕 gives the carving, yielding a wood carving.

Characters in this word

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

木 is drawn as a tree, with branches above and roots below.

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

周隹雕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

隹隹zhuī

Sound part声符shēngfú

周

周zhōu雕diāo

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

雕 pairs 隹, a bird radical, with 周, which supplies the sound.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.