椅套 (yǐ tào) — chair slipcover; chair cover

Definition

noun
chair slipcoverchair cover
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 椅套，。
    Zhè ge yǐ tào shì lán sè de, hěn piào liang.
    This chair slipcover is blue and very pretty.
  • 椅套，。
    Qǐng bǎ yǐ tào xǐ yí xià, yǒu diǎn zāng le.
    Please wash the chair cover — it's a bit dirty.
  • 椅套。
    Xīn mǎi de yǐ tào hé shā fā hěn pèi.
    The newly bought chair slipcover matches the sofa well.

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.

椅yǐchair
套tàocover

“椅” means chair and “套” means cover; together they name a cover for a chair.

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
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
奇
奇qí椅yǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

椅 combines 木 (wood) with 奇, which gives its sound.

Open 椅 →

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

  • 大大dàlarge
  • 長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Open 套 →

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