毛坯 (máo pī) — (manufacturing) blank, semifinished product; (construction) shell, unfinished house

Definition

Refers to a raw, unprocessed form: a metal or part blank (毛坯) before machining, or a bare shell of a building (毛坯房) before interior finishing. Not a finished product — further work is required.

noun
(manufacturing) blanksemifinished product(construction) shellunfinished house
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 毛坯，。
    Zhè ge líng jiàn hái zhǐ shì máo pī, xū yào jìn yí bù jiā gōng.
    This part is still just a blank and needs further processing.
  • 毛坯，。
    Wǒ mǎi de shì máo pī fáng, zhuāng xiū yào huā hěn duō qián.
    I bought a shell house; the renovation will cost a lot of money.
  • 毛坯。
    Gōng chǎng lǐ duī mǎn le gè zhǒng jīn shǔ máo pī.
    The factory is piled with all kinds of metal blanks.

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.

毛máoraw
坯pīunburnt brick; rough piece

"毛" raw and "坯" rough piece combine to mean an unfinished blank or shell.

Characters in this word

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

毛 is drawn as a feather or hair, with its strokes tracing the shape of the feather or hair.

Open 毛 →

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
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
丕
丕pī坯pī
Same sound today

坯 puts 土 beside 丕, with 土 giving the meaning and 丕 giving the sound.

Open 坯 →

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