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橡胶 (xiàng jiāo) — rubber (the material)

Definition

橡胶 refers to the raw material 'rubber' in industrial or scientific contexts (e.g. tire manufacturing, elasticity). 橡皮 more often means the everyday 'eraser' (or rubber in everyday object contexts).

noun
rubber (the material)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 橡胶。
    Zhè zhǒng xiàng jiāo de tán xìng hěn hǎo.
    This type of rubber has very good elasticity.
  • 橡胶？
    Chē tāi shì yòng xiàng jiāo zuò de ma?
    Are tires made of rubber?
  • 橡胶。
    Gōng chǎng shēng chǎn gè zhǒng xiàng jiāo zhì pǐn.
    The factory produces various rubber products.

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.

橡xiàngrubber tree
胶jiāogum

橡 names the tree and 胶 names the gum, together meaning rubber.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 橡 →

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 膠; 胶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
翏
翏liù膠jiāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 膠 pairs ⺼ (meat; flesh) with 翏, which gives the sound.

Open 胶 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Materials & Substances

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