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母体 (mǔ tǐ) — (biology) the maternal body or parent organism; (formal or technical) matrix (in materials science, mathematics, etc.)

Definition

A formal/technical term: in biology, the maternal parent organism (the mother that carries offspring); in materials science and math, the 'matrix' — the base material or structure that embeds other elements.

noun
(biology) the maternal body or parent organism(formal or technical) matrix (in materials science, mathematics, etc.)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 母体。
    Tāi ér de jiàn kāng yǔ mǔ tǐ de huán jìng mì qiè xiāng guān.
    The health of the fetus is closely related to the maternal environment.
  • 母体。
    Zhè zhǒng zhí wù de mǔ tǐ hé zǐ dài zhī jiān cún zài míng xiǎn chā yì.
    There are clear differences between the parent plant and its offspring.
  • ，母体。
    Fù hé cái liào zhōng, mǔ tǐ de qiáng dù jué dìng le cái liào de xìng néng.
    In composite materials, the strength of the matrix determines the material's properties.

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.

母mǔmother
体tǐbody

母 indicates the mother or parent, and 体 denotes the body or underlying substance, giving a maternal body or matrix.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 母 →

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ體tǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Open 体 →
Appears in
Biology

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