毛布 (máo bù) — coarse cotton cloth, calico

Definition

noun

coarse cotton clothcalico

Measure word · 块

毛布。
Yǐ qián rén men cháng yòng máo bù zuò yī fu.
People used to make clothes out of coarse cotton cloth.
毛布。
Zhè zhǒng máo bù mō qǐ lái hěn cū cāo.
This kind of calico feels very rough.
毛布。
Tā yòng máo bù bāo le nà běn shū.
He wrapped that book in coarse cotton cloth.

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.

The rough part and the cloth part combine to name coarse cloth.

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.

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

巾巾jīnkerchief

Sound part声符shēngfú

父

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

布 pairs 巾, a kerchief, with 父 as a sound part.