次氯酸 (cì lǜ suān) — hypochlorous acid (HOCl)

Definition

noun

hypochlorous acid (HOCl)

次氯酸。
Yóu yǒng chí lǐ jiā le cì lǜ suān lái xiāo dú.
Hypochlorous acid was added to the swimming pool to disinfect it.
次氯酸。
cì lǜ suān Shì yì zhǒng yǒu xiào de xiāo dú jì.
Hypochlorous acid is an effective disinfectant.
次氯酸。
Shí yàn shì xū yào xī shì cì lǜ suān cái néng shǐ yòng.
The lab needs to dilute hypochlorous acid before use.

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.

次氯lower chlorine state

次cìlower氯lǜchlorine

偏正Modifier + head

次 marks a lower chlorine state, 氯 names chlorine, and 酸 names acid, together forming the chemical name.

Characters in this word

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

The old form of 次 shows a person exhaling, with the marks above the figure representing breath.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

彔

彔lù氯lǜ

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

氯 pairs 气 (gas) with 彔, which gives the sound; 彔 is also a shortened form of a character meaning green.

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

酉夋酸

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

夋

夋qūn酸suān

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

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.