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水底 (shuǐ dǐ) — bottom of a body of water (river, lake, sea); underwater bottom

Definition

noun
bottom of a body of water (river, lake, sea)underwater bottom

Examples

  • 水底。
    Qián shuǐ yuán zài shuǐ dǐ fā xiàn le chén chuán.
    The diver discovered a sunken ship at the bottom of the water.
  • 水底。
    Zhè tiáo hé de shuǐ dǐ yǒu hěn duō shí tou.
    The bottom of this river has many rocks.
  • 水底。
    Yú xǐ huan duǒ zài shuǐ dǐ de shí tou xià miàn.
    Fish like to hide under the rocks at the bottom of the water.

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.

水shuǐwater
底dǐbottom

水 names water, and 底 names the bottom, so together they mean the bottom of water.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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