林荫 (lín yīn) — shade of trees; leafy shade | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

shade of treesleafy shade

Measure word · 片

Examples

林荫。
Xià tiān zǒu zài lín yīn xiǎo lù shang fēi cháng liáng kuai.
Walking on the shady path in summer is very cool.
林荫，。
Gōng yuán lǐ de lín yīn hěn nóng, shì hé xiū xi.
The shade in the park is thick, suitable for resting.
林荫。
Zhè tiáo lín yīn dà dào liǎng páng zhǒng mǎn le dà shù.
This tree-lined avenue is planted with big trees on both sides.

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.

林 (forest) and 荫 (shade) combine to mean the shade cast by trees.

Characters in this word

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

木木林

木木mùtree
木木mùtree

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

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 蔭; 荫 is its simplified writing.

艹陰蔭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

陰

陰yīn蔭yìn

Same sound today

The traditional form 蔭 has 艹 (grass) and 陰 (shade), with 陰 giving the sound; 荫 is a later simplified form.

Appears in

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