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槲寄生 (hú jì shēng) — mistletoe

Definition

noun
mistletoe
Measure word · 棵

Examples

  • ，槲寄生。
    Shèng dàn jié shí, rén men cháng zài mén shàng guà hú jì shēng.
    At Christmas, people often hang mistletoe on the door.
  • 槲寄生。
    Zhè zhǒng hú jì shēng de guǒ shí shì bái sè de.
    The berries of this mistletoe are white.
  • 槲寄生。
    Chuán shuō zài hú jì shēng xià jiē wěn huì dài lái hǎo yùn.
    Legend says kissing under the mistletoe brings good luck.

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.

槲húoak
寄生parasitic growth
寄jìattach生shēnglive
偏正Modifier + head

槲 is the oak; 寄生 is life attached to a host, naming a plant living on oak, not the oak itself.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
宀宀miánhouse
Sound part声符shēngfú
奇
奇qí寄jì
Same sound today

The 宀 part shows a roof, and 奇 gives the sound. Together they point to staying or lodging away from home.

Open 寄 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
Plants & Flowers

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