气门 (qì mén) — tire valve (on a car, bicycle, etc.); spiracle or stigma (breathing pore in insects, fish, or plants)

Definition

noun
tire valve (on a car, bicycle, etc.)spiracle or stigma (breathing pore in insects, fish, or plants)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 气门，。
    Zì xíng chē de qì mén huài le, xū yào huàn yí gè xīn de.
    The bicycle's tire valve is broken and needs to be replaced with a new one.
  • 气门。
    Kūn chóng tōng guò shēn tǐ liǎng cè de qì mén hū xī.
    Insects breathe through the spiracles on the sides of their bodies.
  • 气门。
    Zhè zhǒng zhí wù de yè zi shàng yǒu míng xiǎn de qì mén jié gòu.
    This plant has obvious stigma structures on its leaves.

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.

气qìair/gas
门ménopening/gate

气 names air or gas, 门 names an opening or gate, together meaning a valve for air.

Characters in this word

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →

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