氨水 (ān shuǐ) — ammonia water, aqueous ammonia

Definition

noun
ammonia wateraqueous ammonia

Examples

  • 氨水
    Zhè zhǒng ān shuǐ yǒu hěn qiáng de cì jī xìng qì wèi.
    This kind of ammonia water has a strong pungent smell.
  • 氨水
    Shí yàn shì lǐ yòng ān shuǐ zuò huà xué shí yàn.
    In the lab, they use ammonia water for chemistry experiments.
  • 氨水
    Mǎi yì píng ān shuǐ xū yào xiān dēng jì.
    To buy a bottle of ammonia water, you need to register first.

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.

ānammonia

氨 (ammonia) and 水 (water) together mean ammonia water.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
gas
Sound part声符shēngfú
ānān
Same sound today

氨 pairs 气 (gas) with 安, which gives the sound ān; the 气 part shows that it names a gas.

Open 氨 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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